


Heart of Safi

by SpiritArchive



Category: Monster Hunter (Video Games), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Bioenergy, Gen, Kinda, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is Filial, Midoriya Izuku is technically an Elder Dragon, Mild Angst, Minor Original Character(s), OOC Midoriya Izuku, Original Villains, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overpowered Midoriya Izuku, Protective Midoriya Izuku, Scary Midoriya Izuku, TA Midoriya Izuku, dadzuku, no beta we die like men, past trauma, that should be a tag, very mild
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 67,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22692865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritArchive/pseuds/SpiritArchive
Summary: Put into a coma because of a villain attack, Midoriya Izuku spent a whole year in a hospital before waking up with sapphire eyes.Who could have imagined a single year in a coma would equate to twenty-five years of experience in monster hunting? And who knew he could use bioenergy in this fashion?"All for One? What plaything for the Black Dragons is that?"
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku & Everyone, Midoriya Izuku & U.A.'s Big Three
Comments: 685
Kudos: 2833
Collections: Best Fics Ever





	1. Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a damn crossover. How will I be able to provide for both fandoms? Well let's find out.
> 
> Major Iceborne spoilers in the beginning.

The Secluded Valley, Safi'Jiiva's lair.

The fate of the New World rested upon these four hunters. They could not allow the dragon to roam free.

Four legendary hunters, each with an extremely high Hunter Rank and experience to match.

Miles, Hunter Rank 700. He was raised a hundred ranks several months back, when he not only survived, but had also slain a Nergigante, Teostra and Lunastra on the same day. The three dragons were at their prime, posing as Master Rank threats and Miles was the one to accomplish the feat of slaying three Elder Dragons in such a short span of time.

He proudly wore the equipment crafted from the materials of a Ruiner Nergigante as he struck true with his hammer.

Ryu, Hunter Rank 750. In his time in the New World, he had slain a Kirin, a Velkhana and even a Namielle. All of them were Master Rank threats that had strayed too close to the Research Base and Seliana and had to be put down.

He donned the armor made from Velkhana’s hide and sliced away at Safi’Jiiva with his longsword.

Safi, Hunter Rank 800. The Sapphire Star of the new world and despite being the youngest among the group, she had the second highest Hunter Rank. The Guild had given her a hefty amount of contribution points after slaying Xeno’Jiiva and Sharah Ishvalda. She was also the one who led a group of hunters into the Caverns of El Dorado to repel the illustrious Kulve Taroth.

It was her name that they used to name the Elder Dragon, as she was the New World’s pride and saviour and it felt appropriate to name Safi’Jiiva so.

These three hunters were the New World’s strongest, having their stories spread even among the Old World. They were also present to repel Zorah Magdaros.

The fourth hunter however was a different case.

Hunter Rank 999, the highest possible rank given by the guild, with only a dozen or less hunters bearing such rank at any given moment in the entire guild. It was the proof of surpassing normal hunters and being among the pillars of monster hunting.

Izuku Midoriya, age 38, twenty years of service and five years under the tutelage of another veteran hunter. Twenty-five years of experience in the field. A name talked about in great reverence in the Old World, and perhaps also in the New World.

Arriving two years ago on the fifth fleet, he became sort of a trainer for B-listers who needed pointers regarding their weapon of choice. Izuku, being proficient in every guild-approved weapon type, was able to show them the ropes.

His time in the New World was treated as his long deserved break, after that fateful day another year back.

The day he and three other pillars of the guild faced off the Black Dragon, Fatalis. While not the one from the legends, it was more than strong enough to be considered a G-Rank threat and had to be dealt with quickly, or it would be Schrade Kingdom all over again.

Slaying the Fatalis proved to be more than enough for his rank to skyrocket and brought up to what it was today. Only when Master Rank monsters made their appearance did he go back to the field to do what he did best.

Monster hunting.

His most notable feat in the New World had to be when he had personally dealt with a Raging Brachydios and a Furious Rajang before they caused too much damage to the environment. Izuku also had a history in the New World for slaying tough Old World monsters that showed up in the New World.

But even if one were to compliment him about it, all he’d say was that he was just there at the right time and that any other Master or G-Rank hunter could do the same.

Now fighting against a monster that could prove to be powerful enough to be classified as a Black Dragon, Izuku had pulled all stops and donned his strongest yet at the same time most dangerous equipment.

Fatalis armor.

His mental fortitude was strong enough to ignore the whispers that urged him to betray his humanity, but he was not one to take big risks, this moment being only the second time he had worn this armor.

Having the highest Hunter Rank among the group, he felt obligated as a senior to look after his juniors, so he went into the battle with a Heavy Bowgun to attack from a range while at the same time bring support to his teammates with Recovery Ammo.

The battle had been going on for a little over ten minutes, with plenty of stamina and energy to spare from the hunters. It seemed like the fight was about to be over…

“Ow!”

Izuku’s eyes immediately locked on to Safi, who was cradling her leg with a wince.

_Broken limb. Not good. If my observations are correct, she’s already consumed all of her max and ancient potions and had yet to find time to make more._

Miles and Ryu jumped into action, with the hammer-user taunting the dragon for its attention while the other hunter rushed to the huntress. Izuku checked his ammunition bag for his Recovery Ammo only to freeze at a revelation.

He had run out.

And that wasn’t the only misfortune that happened right then and there. Because Ryu was attacking Safi’Jiiva’s tail and Safi herself had been immobilized beside the dragon, the distance to close was too great and all three hunters were pushed back by a large gust of wind made by the flap of Jiiva’s wings.

And the Elder Dragon left the ground.

Just when they were about to lament about its escape, Safi’Jiiva breathed sapphire haze downwards, encompassing the ground and bringing great worry to everyone present.

Then instincts took action, Miles and Ryu running behind the conveniently fallen crags. The same thing happened for Izuku.

Except instead of running away, he ran straight to Safi.

 _Of all the times to disregard my self-preservation…_ he thought bitterly.

Acting fast, Izuku pulled up a max potion and a mega potion from his bag before crushing the pill containing the contents of a max potion and mixed it with the mega potion.

For some reason, applying potions directly to the wound was very inefficient compared to simply consuming it, but with a max potion in the mix, it should be enough to recover even a broken leg.

Miles and Ryu realized they had left a comrade out in the open in a vulnerable state and inwardly cursed themselves for it. But just before they could help Izuku in moving Safi out of the way, they got a good look at the dragon that was spewing more and more blue mist to the ground and they were locked in place.

 _Of all the times to regard my self-preservation…_ they thought bitterly.

Izuku poured the mixture onto Safi’s leg and lifted her up by the arm to drag her away. The coldness of the blue fog did nothing but supply more panic to his erratically beating heart, but he did not falter.

There was someone who needed to be saved.

“Senior hunter, please save yourself!” Izuku heard Safi shout beside him. They both knew whatever came next… there was no chance of surviving it.

Even still, his grasp was firm. “We’ve hunted side by side with each other before. I would like you to refer to me by my first name, Izuku.”

He smiled, a certain zeal in his eyes. His years hunting Elder Dragons and other monsters of the Old World had tempered Izuku to the man he was now.

Occasionally soft-spoken, quite selfless, wise beyond his years and a bit mysterious in a way. He would never speak of his origin, other than the fact that he was an orphan, but Safi had a feeling that wasn’t all.

The concoction that was poured on her leg slowly took effect and she regained more strength to her legs, allowing both of them to move forward faster to the closest crag on the ground to take cover.

Then it became quiet.

Too quiet.

Both heads turned, eyes slowly widening at the sight.

It was as if a star had fallen from the sky.

A sapphire star.

Shrunken as it may have been, it shone with such majesty that one couldn’t help but revere it.

And it was going to hit the ground.

As if the star had stilled every particle in the air, Izuku couldn’t hear anything. Not his heartbeat, not his comrades that were urgently shouting at him from behind the crags, and not the girl beside him.

A hand squeezed his shoulder. Izuku turned his head to lock eyes with Safi.

Even without hearing anything, he knew what she said from reading her lips.

_“Leave me and save yourself, Izuku.”_

…

How could he allow that?

Safi, the sapphire star, the enthusiastic girl that he had befriended on board the fifth fleet before they arrived in the New World. In the span of two years, he watched her grow over time, contributing more and more for Astera than she could ever comprehend. In less than two years, she had attained the rank of Master. A feat perhaps only achieved by fewer people than there were fingers on one hand in the history of the Guild’s founding.

The only thing he could find in her eyes were grief, guilt… and acceptance.

The girl who couldn’t hide the excitement in her eyes as she went hunts with her ‘legendary senior hunter’. The girl who shone as bright as the sapphire star in the sky.

Izuku couldn’t help but think.

_She’s so young…_

As a senior, Izuku felt obligated.

Obligated to protect the lives of his juniors.

Even if it might cost him his own.

It felt as if time slowed down, and everything was moving in slow motion. There was one more thing he could do.

Which was to abandon his humanity.

_Fatalis… you want my body? Then take it._

As quickly as the voices ceased, the pain began. The scales in the interior parts of his armor dug into his flesh and Izuku felt something crawling beneath his skin. An unbearable headache overtook his senses and he stumbled, Safi almost tripping down herself.

As painful as it was, he still received what he was hoping for.

A drastic boost in strength.

Before the will of Fatalis could cloud his mind, he heaved Safi up from the ground and practically tossed her to the crag Ryu was occupying, which the hunter reacted fast and softened her fall the best he could before pulling her behind the rock.

Honestly speaking, that was probably the least painful experience Safi had to endure since the battle began.

As scales began to grow from his skin, teeth sharpening to an excessive degree and two sharp somethings were trying to protrude from the top of his head and back, Izuku watched as Safi desperately tried to run out of her cover to get him, but Ryu held her back, shouting words that could not be heard.

Izuku’s eyes drifted to Miles, who raised his hand to form a salute. His eyes conveyed sorrow… and his utmost respect.

Then the star touched the ground.

Within it, a supernova.

The sapphire mist rushed towards him, not affecting the ground at all… then it finally came in contact with Izuku.

The Fatalis in him roared in agony, and so did Izuku. It didn’t matter that his armor was made from the parts of a Fatalis. Any weak points in his hardened skin were instantly pierced open by the stardust, his insides being torn apart by Safi’Jiiva’s most powerful attack.

…

Even after all that…

Izuku looked into the eyes of the descending Elder Dragon and smiled in the face of death.

_Well… I do have some regrets… but not nearly enough to not consider giving my life for another._

Izuku’s group would find themselves facing a weakened Safi’Jiiva that was not willing to flee, even if it resulted in its demise. Reinforcements would arrive and slay the menace of the New World with no more casualties.

Izuku’s corpse would be taken back to the Old World, the returning fleet having the company of over half of every Master Rank hunter from the New World. He would be buried in his hometown, a town turned into a flourishing city due to Izuku’s influence.

The news would spread from the Guild and many mourned the tragic fall of one of the most well-known pillars of the Guild. Legends would soon spread about his rise from a mere orphan to a G-Rank monster hunter. His feats would be known by many, and the moment that marked his fall was dubbed the:

Proof of a True Hero.

* * *

_Beep._

…

_Beep._

…

_Beep._

“... Mm.”

_Beep._

A hospital bed. In a hospital room.

A small body. Lying on the hospital bed.

Disheveled green hair. Freckled cheeks.

Midoriya Izuku. In a coma for a whole year. If he was still in school, he would be beginning middle school.

The boy lifted his eyelids, and sapphire eyes gazed at the hospital room ceiling.

Despite the long time he had spent in the room, his face looked oddly rejuvenated.

Izuku took slow glances at his surroundings, seeing familiar pieces of technology from twenty-five years ago.

He never forgot his true origin.

“... I’m back.”

He mumbled to himself, then being pleasantly surprised that his throat didn’t feel uncomfortable despite having not spoken for a long time. At least he thought it was a long time.

Izuku sat up and breathed in, his lungs almost as clear as when he was a hunter and he thought it strange.

_My body seems… quite healthy._

A warm feeling made itself known from the center of his chest. Pulling up the shirt the hospital fitted him into, Izuku took note of his rather fit body before glancing at the anomaly on his chest.

In its center, a star-like mark or scar was there. It glowed a faint blue, and Izuku was filled with wonder. Rubbing the mark with his thumb, he said softly, “Did you bring me back, Jiiva?”

Thinking back, the dragon seemed to have an interest over him, his eyes making contact with Jiiva’s own quite a lot of times. Did it know?

Truth be told, he held no contempt over the monster. Despite its violent behaviors, Izuku respected Safi’Jiiva all the same. Unfortunately, because its existence was a threat to the entirety of the New World, the hunters could not sit back and watch it from afar.

He quite admired the Elder Dragon.

But the same couldn’t quite be said for every monster.

If there was one thing he _loathed_ more than-

Izuku took a deep breath. He noticed in his anger that the star on his chest glowed slightly brighter, increasing in temperature. He frowned in puzzlement.

The blue… felt familiar. It might carry the same shade of sapphire as the haze that had killed him, but there was something different about it.

The mark seemed to pulse with energy.

“Bioenergy.” Izuku came to a realization. The reason his body looked as fit as he was.

“... But wouldn’t that make me an Elder Dragon?” He pondered to himself.

And now that he was home after so long… what came next?

Izuku glanced at the ‘call for doctor’ button beside his bed and pressed it. A little under a minute passed and there was a click from the door before it opened slowly.

A nurse peeked her head in the room in confusion, quite sure that there were no visitors for this patient today and froze at the sight of Izuku sitting up and smiling at her.

He also did a little wave with his hand.

She immediately shut the door and went off to alert the other doctors.

Izuku chuckled a bit before lying back down on the hospital bed.

One of his regrets before his death as a monster hunter was that he could never face off the monsters of the Frontier. The creatures depicted in their bestiaries were just so far fetched that Izuku couldn’t help but want to encounter them for the first time.

Of course, he had other woes from his previous life, but for now…

It felt good to be back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 'Frontier' is basically Monster Hunter Frontier, which I have never played before. There will still be some small references to it though!
> 
> No sassy Izuku here unfortunately! Just an Izuku who sometimes acts like some wise old man.
> 
> And a dad. Let's not forget that.
> 
> For those who have trouble visualizing the monster(s) featured:  
> Safi'Jiiva: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Safi%27jiiva


	2. To Be Filial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some feels for you all before the story eventually picks up.
> 
> I'm not very experienced in writing emotional moments, but I think I did decently.
> 
> Typing while listening to the MHW private suite theme on loop is bliss.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Midoriya?” Asked a doctor sitting atop a stool. In front of him was a coma patient that had by some miracle recently awoken after a year of immobility.

Izuku answered the question with ease, “I feel just fine, Doctor Jakku. In fact, believe it or not, I think I’ve never been better.”

He had to remember to speak in Japanese and not the other myriad languages he had learned to be fluent in from his past life.

The doctor stroked his chin in thought. “You are also having no problems with speaking, it seems. Do you perhaps know the cause of this?”

“Well… I would like to wait for my mom to arrive and talk about it.” Izuku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. The doctor acquiesced to his request in understanding. After all, he had informed Midoriya how long he had been in a coma for. To think one of his first thoughts was to ease his mother’s worries.

Jakku exited the room with the nurse that was accompanying him.

“That kid didn’t seem all that concerned when we told him about what happened,” commented the nurse, and Jakku couldn’t help but smile.

“Indeed. Midoriya has quite a good head on his shoulders, doesn’t he? A mature young man.” The doctor couldn’t help but praise Izuku’s ability to stay calm even in this situation. “He and his mother are lucky to have each other.”

A frown quickly made its way to his face. “It’s quite unfortunate his father did not even visit once. He may be working overseas, but this is his family that had been struck with tragedy.”

It had been a year and Hisashi did not return to Japan. Who knew what he was doing all the way in America. Izuku’s mother had made sure to visit at least once every other day without fail.

* * *

Inko rushed through the hospital doors with much urgency after her boss let her go from overtime work that day. How could she not be in a hurry?

Her baby, Izuku… for so long she had not seen the light of his eyes. Could today mark the end of her year-long and constant despair and melancholy?

Making her way up to the counter and almost slamming her arms on top of it, she said with haste, “M-my name is Midoriya Inko, and I believe about half and hour ago my son-”

“You may visit his room, Ms. Midoriya,” said the receptionist, a face she had seen quite a few times before. The receptionist had a kind smile on her face. “Who am I to stop a mother from visiting her son?”

“Th-thank you!” Inko replied before fast-walking to the room that held Izuku. Standing right outside was Jakku, a man she had familiarized herself with. She assumed he was waiting for her.

The doctor gestured to her to come closer to the door before he slowly opened it with a click. “Your son is waiting.”

Twelve months ago. A villain accident. She had almost lost the light of her life that day.

Inko had spent countless nights with her own thoughts keeping her awake. Had she… done a good job as a mother?

No. Inko didn’t think so.

All she had done was keep Izuku fed and enrolled him to a school. Every weekday she had to leave her house to go to work an office job, spending very little time with her son. And the worst thing she had ever done to warrant labelling herself as a bad mother, she had crushed Izuku’s dreams simply because he didn’t have a quirk.

But no more. Seeing her son sitting up with his head turned to her with an unreadable expression, it didn’t matter that his eyes were a cool sapphire instead of a bright emerald. She would say the words that Izuku had always wanted to hear, and she would mean it.

Inko rushed forward to engulf her son in a hug the first time the whole year.

* * *

Izuku heard hurried footsteps outside of his room.

_Could it be?_

There was some muffled conversation before he heard the door open. His mother was here.

He wanted to apologize to his mother for keeping her waiting for so long. And then talk about his many adventures in his past life. If there was anyone who would believe him, it would be his mom.

Izuku felt a bit excited. It had indeed been a while…

-The door swung open-

A year for his mother since she had seen him awake, and…

-He was greeted with the sight of his mom-

Twenty-five years since he had seen her at all.

Izuku vaguely felt arms wrapped around him and he could not hold back his tears.

“Oh, Izuku… y-you’re finally awake…” Inko said through her sobs.

“Mom… I missed you so much…” Izuku clung on to her as if she would disappear if he let go.

Inko felt as if her world was filled with color again, and from the back of Izuku’s mind, his worries were put to ease. This was not a dream. He really was back.

They opened their mouths and said at the same time, “I’m so sorry, mom / Izuku!”

Let it be known that both of them didn’t think highly of themselves. Inko believed herself to be a bad parent for not allowing her son to have a normal childhood. Izuku blamed himself for forcing his mother to wait so long before he finally woke up.

Yet they thought the world of each other.

After some incoherent sentences and giving apologies back and forth, they finally calmed down enough to hold a normal conversation. Reigning in his beating heart and drying his eyes, Izuku breathed slowly once more. He waited until his mom composed herself.

“Izuku… I believe you can be a hero, quirkless or not.” Ignoring the surprised look on her son’s face, she continued. “As dangerous as it can be… if it’s you, then I believe you can do it.”

He blinked owlishly, before easing a small smile onto his face. “Thank you, mom, and… I’m sorry for worrying you for so long.”

She shook her head, facing downwards. “N-no, it was something out of your control. I should be the one apologizing to you for not supporting you as a mother.”

“You were only doing your job,” Izuku said quietly. Their eyes met and they pulled each other in for another hug.

“ … Izuku, why are your eyes a different color?” Asked Inko, addressing the elephant in the room. Both of them pulled back and she watched as her son’s sapphire eyes shone a luminescent light.

“There are many things I want to tell you, mom. But let’s talk when we get home, alright?” He said, and she agreed easily.

Opening the door closed by Jakku so they could talk by themselves, Inko allowed the doctor to enter and check on Izuku’s condition more thoroughly and to speak about his strangely healthy body.

After Doctor Jakku and his mother had taken a seat, Izuku began.

“I’ve awakened a quirk.”

The reactions were instantaneous.

His mother’s eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened comically. Jakku’s eyebrows also raised, but much slower and every second brought more surprise to the man’s expression.

Not letting them speak up, Izuku pulled up his shirt to reveal the mark on the center of his chest. Their expressions became even more exaggerated. Lips twitching in amusement, he concentrated deeply, locating his bioenergy reserves and pulling it outwards.

The mark glowed blue and a warm feeling rested in the center of Izuku’s chest. His eyes were also glowing.

“My quirk… allows me to produce some sort of energy to strengthen my body over time.” He said simply, though Izuku was sure there was more to it.

“Th-this is quite…” Jakku glanced at Inko, who had yet to fully recover from her shock, and turned back to Izuku. “To awaken a quirk right before one wakes up from a coma…”

The doctor was sure that Izuku looked nowhere as fit as he did now yesterday, which meant his quirk manifested less than twenty-four hours ago. For a quirk to make such changes so quickly… to the point that the boy was already healthy enough to be discharged?

“I’ve never actually heard of this type of scenario before, much less dealt with it. There have been cases of quirk awakening from unnatural means, but this… this is a first,” stated Jakku.

Inko was nowhere near as composed. She was bug-eyed and completely flustered at the revelation. “I-I-Izuku! Your quirk, y-you already know what it does?”

Inko was clearly not prepared for her son to say that he had a quirk right after she said that he could be a hero without one. What was she supposed to say, that _now_ he could truly be a hero? She was going to stick to the belief that Izuku could be a hero without a quirk, but now that he actually has one, she didn’t know what to think of it.

“Well, right when I woke up, I definitely felt something off. Then I felt something warm on my chest and it was like a part of me had finally woken up from dormancy. I think a lot of people refer to quirks as something akin to one’s muscles? I feel the same,” Izuku said firmly.

Doctor Jakku nodded, accepting the situation as it was. A late blooming quirk that had only come to be under specific circumstances. He said, “You seem quite comfortable with your quirk. Do you already have a name for it?”

Izuku breathed in, and opened his mouth to give a name.

Then he paused. Before his brows furrowed. Jakku let the boy think.

Izuku did indeed have a name for his quirk, but that name barely gave a hint to what his quirk was actually all about, so he had to change it if it was to be recorded. He decided to go for the easiest name.

“Bioenergy.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow in intrigue, looking somewhat impressed. “That sounds oddly fitting, doesn’t it? I dare say it’s the perfect name for your quirk.”

Izuku only nodded with a smile. While it was fitting from an outsider’s perspective, he had another name for it that he decided to keep for himself.

“Alright then.” Doctor Jakku got up from his seat. “I’ll handle all of… this, while you two can get ready to go home soon.”

Inko looked at her son with eyes full of hope, and Izuku basked himself in tranquility.

He couldn’t wait to go home.

* * *

After Inko bought a change of clothes from a nearby store that could properly fit Izuku, she hailed a taxi to take them home. They had already expressed their thanks to the doctor for helping out with the paperwork for Izuku’s discharge from the hospital.

Their ride home was quiet, but Inko was burning with curiosity over Izuku’s words. He said they would talk when they made it home.

Once they arrived, Inko unlocked the door and opened it, letting her son step inside.

Izuku was instantly hit with nostalgia.

This seemingly plain apartment room that was a bit cramped in space, had a kitchen that cooked his favorite katsudon and in this place carried his best and worst memories. Even the air inside had a certain coziness to it, like it was approved by his subconsciousness.

This apartment room was no private suite, but it was home.

But there was something off.

His mother closed the door behind as Izuku looked around the room with inquisitive eyes. Shouldn't the room be a bit more… cramped? He could have sworn there was another chair in a certain corner.

Then again, it had been twenty-five years. His mind might be playing tricks on him.

“Let’s talk in my room, mom,” said Izuku, and for some reason his mother’s eyes were not so happy anymore. They had a hint of… sadness?

She nodded in response and followed him to his room. The moment he entered his room, the doubts in his mind increased tenfold.

His room… was exactly the same as he remembered it. Inko must have made sure to clean up his room, but that's besides the point. Izuku could still remember all these All Might posters just fine from so long ago and yet the rest of his home gave him an odd feeling. It seemed… there was another issue to be addressed.

Izuku sat down on his bed and his mom pulled up the office chair from his desk to settle herself down. She donned a curious expression and waited for him to start, but… 

“Mom… are we in debt?”

She didn’t expect him to start with that.

Inko instantly straightened up, absolutely stunned. She opened her mouth to say something, but after fully processing her son’s words, her lower lip trembled. She felt a pit in her stomach.

“I was discharged from a private hospital, right? At least, it wasn’t Musutafu General Hospital.” Izuku said quietly. “And our home… felt a bit empty.”

Inko’s vision was blurred with tears, her breathing becoming ragged. The first time she cried today, it was because of the many emotions raging inside her heart. But this time around? 

She couldn’t lie to Izuku. Not when his tone of voice was so… _soft_.

Inko felt arms wrapping around her and she let herself cry once more. Her baby seemed to be all grown up.

“It’s okay… it’s okay…” He whispered, rubbing soothing circles on her back. “It’ll be alright.”

“Your father, he… he cut off all our connections… he’s no longer sending us money…” she said in sorrow. Izuku was silent, letting his mom cry her woes out.

“The general hospital was full, and the nearest government hospital that I could take you to was so far away… what would happen to you if I wasn’t there for you when you woke up?” She looked into her son’s eyes, her face tearful but serious. “I would rather pay a fortune to visit you frequently than nothing to only see you after long periods of time.”

Looking at her eyes that expressed no regret, Izuku was hit with an epiphany. Her mother had taken care of him for almost thirteen years. He didn’t know when his father left him, but without a doubt he was raised by her for the vast majority of his life.

He was her everything.

She was his hero.

And he finally had the ability to repay her kindness.

“Don’t worry mom, we’ll make it through this,” said Izuku, sitting back on his bed. “Together.”

Inko wiped her tears and remained silent to hear her son out.

He took a deep breath before speaking. “In my coma, I woke up in another world…”

For almost half an hour, Izuku told the story of his past life as a monster hunter in vivid detail. His training under a man he had called a teacher for five years. His adventures as a Low-Rank hunter and his exploits that led to him being promoted to High-Rank within two years and G-Rank within two more.

For twenty-five years, he had led the freest life he had ever lived and in the process made a name for himself as a hero amongst the innocents. Izuku had laughed and cried over the years and had experienced emotions that made him truly feel alive.

He watched in amusement as his mother’s eyes widened in distress as he recalled the first Elder Dragon he had hunted and how the Shen Gaoren’s shell had fallen right on top of him at one point in the battle.

He recalled with an air of solemnity about the time when the defences of the town known as Dundorma had been breached, and the Guild had asked him many other hunters to drive out the threat and reclaim the town once more.

Inko listened in rapt attention as Izuku spoke fondly of a man, who was apparently gigantic in size and known as ‘His Immenseness’. He liked to refer to the man simply with the term ‘gramps’.

All of these words that Izuku put together and formed a story for her to listen to in such impressive detail.

Indeed, all of this had sounded quite unbelievable. A world where monsters and other intelligent races lived together in relative peace, only showing hostility to each other under special circumstances. A large organisation of hunters who held respect for the creatures they have killed and in the process protected villages and cities.

A whole world that was not Earth, filled with mythical beings capable of inexplicable abilities, monsters and intelligent races alike. A world that had no quirks, yet had people with enough power to put Pro-Heroes to shame. How could she believe it?

But looking at her son, who was talking about an excitable girl named Safi in the ‘New World’, with such tenderness in his expression, Inko had a thought. These were not the ramblings of a child. It was a life story spoken in reminiscence. The swirling emotions in her son’s eyes was proof of it.

She believed him. How could she not? Ever since his awakening, Izuku had always held an air of maturity around himself. As his mother, of course she had noticed this.

“Mom.”

Inko snapped her gaze to her son, having gotten lost in her thoughts. He didn’t seem to mind that she didn’t pay attention at the end of his talk.

“You’ve taken care of me for more than ten years, all by yourself.” He stated, voice warm. “For so long, you had been my hero without me even realizing it. It must have been hard for you.”

“I-I don’t regret raising you at all, Izuku. You are… very precious to me. And I would do it all over again for you,” said Inko, wiping away at her wet eyes, trying not to cry for the third time today.

Izuku nodded, his heart feeling light. Or maybe that was his bioenergy. “Mom, I want to repay the kindness you’ve given me in full, and then some more.”

Inko looked surprised. He continued, “Now that I have experience and a quirk, I want to use that to my best ability so that you can rest easy. I may still want to save people, but first I want to be your hero before anything else.”

His mother stared at him with the same look of surprise. Then she promptly burst into tears again.

“Izukuuuu, you’re all grown up now…!”

After many reassurances and confirming that she did indeed believe in his story, he sent her mother to bed right after. She was working overtime, after all, and it was nearly midnight at this point.

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Izuku wanted to experiment a little with his bioenergy, since his ‘quirk’ could keep him awake for likely several days on end. Breathing slowly and pulling out the familiar power from its reserves, blue light was released from the palms of his hands and the center of his chest. He exhaled to see bioenergy also being expelled from his mouth.

In less than a minute, his room was lit up by sapphire lights drifting in the air, appearance practically identical to blue scoutflies.

“If it’s able to produce such a light show, what else is it capable of?” He wondered aloud, watching as the specks of light danced atop his palm. Izuku felt nowhere near his limit.

Becoming a bit absentminded, he let his thoughts drift to his past life. Bioenergy was not a very well known term until he had arrived in the New World.

_An energy that all Elder Dragons possessed… What did they do with it?_

He frowned. He was no Elder Dragon, he was human! He had human blood. Wait, how did Elder Dragon blood come to be? Was it bioenergy? Was his blood no longer that of a human’s? And if Elder Dragon blood had such mystical properties, wouldn’t that mean whenever he had extracted essence from an Elder Dragon, his kinsect enjoyed a feast of their blood? How did they not get upgraded from all the Elder Dragon blood that went in their mouths?

While he was not muttering, he was very much oblivious to the happenings around him. The lights gathered in front of him and shone brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding at Izuku perked up, having just noticed it.

“Eh?” He looked straight at the ball of luminescence, barely squinting his eyes. While his body was not that of a hunter’s, one would truly see the world differently after having been flashbanged by god knows how many monsters capable of doing so.

After the brightness had reached its peak, the light dispersed soundlessly, some having been used up somehow, since the room didn’t seem as bright anymore.

Then there was something in its center.

A giant bug.

A giant bug that was suspended in the air with its rapidly flapping wings.

A giant bug that- wait a second-

Izuku lost all semblance of composure as his eyes almost popped out of its sockets.

That wasn’t just some bug-

“Did I just create a living kinsect from memory?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey... how was it?
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Shen Gaoren: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Shen_Gaoren  
> His Immenseness: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/His_Immenseness


	3. Focus on the Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAO I DID NOT ANTICIPATE WRITING THIS DEPRESSING ASS CHAPTER.
> 
> One thing led to another and I heavily expanded a single scene to a whole chapter. One the bright side, expect this to be probably the most angsty chapter of the story. Once you get through it, that's where the fun begins.
> 
> I promise you, this is not an angst fic, nor will it have a super complicated plot. But I do hope you enjoy!

Izuku inspected the kinsect in front of him. It was of the Culldrone lineage. Appearance-wise, its seven diamond-shaped wings bore resemblance to the pattern and coloration of the wings of a monarch butterfly. It also had a pair of long antennas.

If Izuku still remembered, its full identification was Foliacath III Medis. It specialized in speed and healing.

How did he know all this? Well…

“ … Tachi?” Izuku called out hesitantly. He was startled when the kinsect reacted by buzzing loudly and flying circles around him. An action of recognition. “Is… is that really you?”

The kinsect, ‘Tachi’, simply attached itself to his right forearm held on tight. Izuku almost forgot to breathe.

“It really is you…” He muttered, caressing its beautiful wings.

Tachi, the severing kinsect that Izuku had nurtured in the New World as a sort of hobby. It was different than the ones in the Old World, because kinsects from there were bound to their individual weapons. Kinsects of the New World had more… life. As if it was bound to the hunter themselves.

Kinsects and hunters of both the New World and the Old World were known to form relationships of a symbiotic nature with one another. While the hunters nurtured and strengthened their kinsects with precious items, kinsects repaid the favor by extracting essences and putting their abilities to good use to aid their owners.

But Izuku, being the eccentric and legendary hunter he was in his past life, built a relationship of trust with his kinsects.

Basically, he treated his kinsects as more than tools for hunting. They were comrades, subordinates at worst and equals at best. Just like how he treated his palico.

“ … If I could create you, then that would mean I can do the same for the other.” His expression became focused, and the bioenergy converged again in front of him.

_If Tachi could recognize me, then this one…_

“Nibui!” And came the next kinsect.

This time of the Mauldrone lineage, its appearance was similar to a Hercules beetle with its long singular horn and a tough carapace. Its dark blue color scheme was akin to that of the cosmos, or maybe that was just him.

Full identification Gleambeetle III Medis. Specialized in its powerful blunt impacts that came with a pleasant surprise of blast element.

It responded to its name with similar vigor, the kinsect flying circles around him, albeit much slower than Tachi. Before it could attach itself to his right arm, Tachi lashed out at it, irritated. The culldrone proceeded to take off from his arm to have an airborne quarrel with its ‘brother’, Nibui.

The corner of Izuku’s lips curled upwards. His kinsects were quite amusing. A shame they never wanted to attach themselves to his left arm, likely believing his right to be superior and not wanting the other to hog the position for itself. At least, that was how he saw it.

But… what else could he create?

His bioenergy brought living creatures from another world to his reality with barely any effort and he had no idea how it worked. Did it take fauna from there to here? Did it just… come to be? Made by his bioenergy and just that?

Were there any consequences?

Izuku glanced at the state of his room.

All this bioenergy was capable of so much. Was there an actual limit to what he could do?

No… that didn’t matter, what mattered was bringing back what was important to him. That’s right, he didn’t care about the consequences! All he cared about was his closest companion that he had lost years ago.

Izuku raised a shaky hand to the air. “I’ll… I’ll bring you back. You wanted to see the world I came from, right? For you, I will…!”

He wasn’t thinking straight. No! He didn’t need to. He just needed to do this…

Izuku’s breathing became labored. What was holding him back?

_Let me do it. Wait, no, I shouldn’t be too hasty… Fuck that! I just want him back!_

The consequences. What consequences? What’s there to point out? It’s just his quirk. No, not quirk, a gift from his past life. Souls. Those exist, right? What if…

_What if it was just an imitation? And not the real thing?_

To hell with it!

“Please…!” He said through gritted teeth. He was going to do it!

The lights intensified-

_‘Nya, meowster! You’re being too impulsive!’_

And they scattered. He froze.

_‘Sorry, Koko. It’s just… really frustrating to fight it. How can I find a pattern on a monster that moves so quickly? And it’s… really scary. That monster.’_

These voices… he remembered this conversation.

_‘It’s paw-right, meowster! You were afraid, yet you still fought it! Sure we may have lost the first time, but you’re on your way to becoming a master meownster hunter!’_

Izuku’s entire arm trembled. His eyes had a faraway look to them.

_‘ … Thank you, Koko… for sticking with me, even though I’m so weak-”_

He could almost feel his palico smacking his knee with its paw to interrupt that train of thought from his past self.

_‘Enough of that downer talk, meowster! Now, you have to learn to strategize on the field, even when the meownster has its sight on you! It may seem hard, but I believe you can do it! You’re not just the brawn, you’re also the brain! Now, when facing off a Nargacuga…’_

Izuku… was not just the brawn.

He did not spend twenty-five years in another world just to lose control of himself due to his own selfish desires. He was given a power that could tip the balance of the world.

Granted, a world ruled by only humans was not the most balanced world, but if it was one thing about balance that the other world had taught him?

Tipping the scales would lead to the rules of nature being disobeyed. Which would lead to calamity. To put it bluntly, quirks were nothing in front of most dragons.

So Izuku needed to be rational. He needed to use his brains instead of his brawn this time around. He needed…

Absolute control over bioenergy.

And he couldn’t do it alone with his current state of mind. He needed guidance. What should his next course of action be…?

* * *

“Koko! We’ve got an urgent quest to deal with!” Izuku, appearing to be in his late twenties called out into his temporary place of stay. “A Gravios has been terrorizing a nearby farming village near the Ingle Isle. It’s only a High-Rank threat, but we’re the only ones capable of hunting it down at the moment.”

He had already donned his G-Rank Black Diablos equipment, it being more than enough to deal with a stray Gravios a whole rank below what he usually faced. He joked with a light smile, “Who knows? Maybe an Akantor popped up there and chased the Gravios out of its own home.”

Sensing a lack of response, Izuku stepped inside his room. “Koko? Are you there?”

“ … Nya.” A lazy purr escaped the palico’s little bed. Izuku glanced at his companion with worry.

Its actual name was Nekoko, and no matter how unoriginal that sounded, it was a name he had cherished with all his heart.

At first the name started off as just ‘Neko’, which meant ‘cat’ in Japanese so that it could remind Izuku of his origin. Then he realized that it sounded like such a lazy name for his partner in battle that he wanted to change it.

So he put an extra ‘ko’ at the end to make their name more endearing.

It worked for both of them so he stuck to it.

Izuku was months away from his thirtieth birthday, credit to his former teacher for making up a birthday for him after one of his most memorable days. He had been with the same palico for almost twelve years now, and both of them together were a force to be reckoned with, as if their individual strength wasn’t impressive enough.

Nekoko squirmed in its bed a bit, looking exhausted. Did it catch a cold? It had been a while since their last hunt, and they _had_ been lazing around a lot.

“Are you okay? Do you need to stay back this time?” Izuku asked softly. He was definitely very concerned now.

“Sorry, meowster…” Nekoko apologized, seemingly too tired to even open its eyes.

Izuku patted its head for a bit. “It’s alright, I’ll deal with the Gravios quickly and come back home immediately to nurse you back to full health, okay?”

It purred at his touch, looking almost no different than a domesticated cat. Izuku smiled a bit. He got up and felt saddened, looking at his palico that was trying to reach out for his touch once more.

“I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

And he left to deal with the threat with a heavy heart.

…

Dodging the Gravios’s charge with ease, Izuku switched his Charge Blade to its sword and shield mode to gather energy into its phials. He was getting distracted way too much.

Then again, he couldn’t help but worry. Nekoko was feeling unwell, and it didn’t sit right with him. His palico was a tough one, and some sickness wouldn’t be enough to put it out of the fight!

So… was that the reason why Izuku felt so much dread? Because this was the first time an illness got to his companion?

Wait, what’s that rumbling sound in front of him-

A beam of fire struck his body straight on, sending him flying back. Oh, he definitely felt that, despite his impressive armor and natural constitution.

“Fucking hell…” He cursed, carrying himself up as he searched his bag for a mega potion. “Gravios definitely pack a punch… if you get hit, that is.”

Izuku continued his fight with caution, seeing that the monster was enraged and he was not in a right state of mind.

That was until something seemed to snap in his mind, and he knew.

Something was wrong.

_I need to finish this fight NOW!_

He inserted the sword into the charged shield before triggering something that flared the weapon into high gear, electricity crackling all over its form. Izuku swung his weapon in a wide arc in front of him from his right to left and he held the axe behind himself before slashing it down with all his might, performing a Super Amped Elemental Discharge.

Right on top of the charging Gravios’s head.

The after-effects of the discharge caused cracks to form all over the Gravios’s carapace and the impact to its fleshly body destroyed its brain and several other internal organs, killing it instantly.

_Well that fight could have been shorter._

Izuku took a deep breath before remembering why he ended the battle right then and there.

_I need to return immediately._

So he did.

And he was greeted with tragedy.

A Low-Rank hunter ran up to him with urgency. “Senior hunter! Your palico, they…”

Izuku couldn’t hear the rest of it. There was a somber atmosphere coming from the entrance of his place of residence. When he approached, the crowd of hunters quickly parted for him to pass. The hunters and villagers lowered their heads solemnly.

No matter how much he wanted to deny it, the undeniable truth was right in front of him.

Nekoko had passed away of old age after over eleven years of service. The palico’s body, now out of its bed and placed atop a wooden table was being watched over by one of the village doctors. The man heard Izuku’s entry and stepped away so the hunter could see his companion.

“Your palico… no, your friend…” The doctor began, voice quiet. “Passed away of natural causes.”

The man took off the hat he was wearing and held it to his chest, head lowered. “I’m sorry, hunter. For not being able to do anything about it.”

“ … I don’t blame you.” Izuku replied, just as quietly.

The doctor pulled something out from his pocket and presented it to him. “One of the hunters heard your friend fall from its bed with this in its hands. It was something for you.”

Izuku took the rather large piece of folded note and unfurled it as the doctor left to give him some privacy.

He could almost hear Koko’s voice.

‘Heya, meowster! If you’re reading this, then that probably means I’m no longer around. But that’s okay. Because that means you’re still around to save people!

We’ve shared our best and worst times together and made many friends. I’ve experienced so many adventures with you that I couldn’t possibly forget!

And I don’t want you to forget it either! Remember those times that brought smiles to our faces and bring a smile to your own! Just because I’m not here doesn’t mean you should sit around and sulk!

You’re my super strong meowster that never lets anything get to him! So fight on and keep making memories!

With love, Nekoko’

Indeed, it was inevitable. Izuku had been so keen on avoiding thinking about the day it would happen that he had completely forgotten.

His palico had died a peaceful death at the hands of old age. There was no suffering, just the passing of the course of nature. It would happen one day, and Izuku was glad that Nekoko did not meet its demise from a monster. Being happy, that’s what his companion wanted, right? He could at least do that much for it.

_But… even so…_

_‘Meowster! A weapons pro like me will dish out Felyne Fury Combos and power you up with Demon Horns!’_

_‘Nya, meowster, is this your first time hunting a Rathian? Don’t worry, We’ll fight it together!”_

_‘Meowster, I don’t think it’s a good idea to combine gunpowder with- nya!’_

_‘Look, meowster, I managed to befriend a Jaggi!’_

_‘Meowster, are you alright? Do you need a healing horn?’_

_‘Pesky meownster, I won’t let you hurt meowster while he’s down!’_

_‘The world you came from sounds cool! I wish I could see it.’_

_‘Meowster, come look…’_

_‘Meowster, meowster…’_

Tears dripped onto the paper, forming dark splotches.

_It’s hard to be happy with you no longer here…_

An emergency bell sounded from the village square. Izuku’s head lifted slowly.

Outside, there were officials from the Guild issuing an urgent notice.

“An Akantor has been spotted residing in the Ingle Isle! We are recruiting High-Rank and G-Rank hunters to hunt it down before it can drive off any more monsters to the neighbouring villages!” A male wyverian shouted from the plaza towards hesitant hunters. Most of them were Low-Rank, and the High-Rank hunters were still far from being able to face off with one of those legendary beasts.

Another official, a female wyverian, was just there to accompany her associate and to help out on any paperwork if there was anyone willing to join the hunt. She felt a firm hand grasp her shoulder and she turned her head around to see a hunter with rather impressive equipment on him wearing an unreadable expression.

“The Akantor… its strength can only be classified as a High-Rank threat?” He asked with a low voice.

“Yes, judging by the pitch of its roar and how far the sound traveled. It is much too young to be considered a G-Rank threat.” She confirmed, and the hunter nodded slowly.

“I’ll sign up for the quest. My Hunter Rank is 450,” he said, raising his proof of identity and the official was impressed. A G-Rank hunter in such a low-key place such as this?

“Alright! Just sign here, and I’ll stamp it.” The hunter did as he was told. “You have about one and a half days to rest up and prepare. You should be setting off for the base camp of the Ingle Isle by sundown tomorrow, since every hunter is expected to meet up when the moon is at its zenith.”

“I’ll deal with it now.”

…

“Eh?”

The wyverian thought she was hearing things.

“I said I’ll slay it myself. I should be more than capable of dealing with a High-Rank Akantor,” he said before walking off. The wyverian blinked.

Oh shit, he was serious!

She rushed forward to hold the hunter back by the arm. “Hunter! It’s good to be confident in your skills, but an Akantor, whether or not High-Rank, should be regarding with utmost caution! Would it not be safer for everyone to fight with other hunters?”

There was much worry in her tone. It wasn’t that she thought G-Rank hunters were weak, it was just that she thought Akantors were strong! Perhaps comparable to Elder Dragons! No matter how many G-Rank hunters the Guild had, losing one would definitely cause a stir!

The hunter’s hand grabbed hers gently before slowly unlatching it from his arm. He smiled. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

The official watched as the hunter walked off to their lodging, likely for a change of equipment. Maybe… she shouldn’t stop him and see how it would all play out?

Or maybe what stopped her from stopping him was that smile.

It was _unnerving_.

Several hours later, Izuku made it to the base camp. Green eyes looked down from their elevated position. Without a doubt, the monster was still here.

His intuition had yet to fail him.

He glanced at the hunting horn behind him.

That Akantor… was the one that prevented him from seeing his companion in their final moments.

It was the Akantor that forced the Gravios out from its home.

**It was all its fault.**

Having already consumed any necessary drugs and potions that strengthened his body, he let himself fall into the molten arena.

When he returned the next day with oddly clean equipment, he issued a message to the nearest Guild headquarters by bird that he had completed the hunt.

He proceeded to pack up his belongings quickly, arranging a trip to his hometown, despite the distance, to bury his palico.

The other hunters would later arrive at the Ingle Isle alongside several Guild officials to see the tuskless corpse of the Akantor.

Taking a closer look would reveal that its skull had been shattered, likely from a blunt weapon. A more thorough investigation would disclose the fact that the Akantor, a monster that had one of the loudest roars in the world, had its eardrums ruptured by sound.

Over time, rumors of hearing an eerie melody being echoed inside the Ingle Isle would sprout, the rumors’ origin coming from the initial group of hunters that went to the area expecting to fight an Akantor.

Explorers would hear it and describe it as heart-wrenching and full of mournfulness. Some that were very familiar with music would describe it as equal parts sorrow and equal parts fury.

The Nameless Symphony of Rage and Remorse.

What they didn’t know was that monsters could hear it too. But they heard a different sound.

The echoes of the Akantor’s cries, the sound that was made with each impact to the legendary beast’s head.

It brought fear to them.

While most hunters heard the remorse, most monsters heard the rage.

And there would be no monster that would dare claim the Ingle Isle as their own for the next two decades.

Of course, this was all information Izuku could have never known.

* * *

Currently, Izuku sat thinking, before coming to a decision. His kinsects were flying circles around him in concern.

As the only person with such a powerful ability in this world, he decided…

To carry on.

Why?

Because he was confident in himself. Confident that his twenty-five years of experience was worth something. That he was worthy to wield this power and to use it to its full potential.

Izuku wanted to focus on the present. No longer did he want to constantly dwell in the past or stress about the future. Nekoko wanted him to be happy. While he was happy to have arrived home, he would be happier if his palico was here.

_What if it was just an imitation of the real thing?_

Then Izuku would have to deal with knowing that in the future. But now? Now is the present. And presently, he could bring Koko back.

He stabilized his breathing. Lights congregated in front of him once more.

“Let’s make memories together again, Koko. This time… on Earth!”

The ball of brightness increased and increased, until it could do so no longer. Everything dimmed in an instant, and in its place…

Izuku looked at the calico cat in front of him standing on its hind legs. No more tears. Just… a long awaited reunion. His smile slowly grew.

“Koko.”

The palico looked up into his eyes in surprise. Then it spoke in its Felyne language.

“Meowster…?”

They both stared into each other’s eyes.

Then Nekoko jumped into Izuku’s open arms.

A long awaited reunion indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tachikiru is 'sever' in Japanese.  
> Nibui is 'blunt' in Japanese.  
> That's how I came up with the kinsect names.
> 
> Not gonna lie, I name my palico Nekoko ingame.
> 
> If you need help with the visualization:  
> Gravios: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Gravios  
> Akantor: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Akantor  
> Foliacath III Medis: https://monsterhunterworld.wiki.fextralife.com/Foliacath+III+Medis  
> Gleambeetle III Medis: https://monsterhunterworld.wiki.fextralife.com/Gleambeetle+III+Medis


	4. Family and Quirks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to you wonderful people for giving my story a kudos and spending your time to read it!
> 
> I'm not one to make long author notes, so get to reading this chapter!

Inko was preparing to leave for work after making breakfast for her son. It was a simple sandwich that she had time to make since she had woken up a little later than planned.

It pained her to leave the house so soon after having just seen her son recover from his coma, but she thought he must be exhausted. Mental fatigue worked differently compared to physical fatigue, after all.

So she was understandably surprised when she heard the sound of her son’s bedroom door opening with a low but audible sound. Inko turned around and was about to wish him a good morning before she was put in a stunned state by what she saw.

Coming out of Izuku’s room was himself, but with a few additions. Atop his head was two giant bugs clinging onto his unruly hair as if they had made a nest out of it. Then there was a cat almost glued to his leg, the feline walking on its own hind legs.

“Hey mom, I guess I can do a lot more than just strengthen my body with my quirk!” Izuku said with a laugh. The cat waved at her with its little paws and made a sequence of meows that sounded like it was telling her something.

“Koko says good mor-” A paw smacked his thigh. Izuku rolled his eyes. “I mean, good meowning, mama Midori.”

Of course her son could speak cat. Because why wouldn’t he be able to?

And that pun was just the cherry on top before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and Midoriya Inko promptly fainted. The last thing she heard was, “Oh shi-”

* * *

It took a minute for his mom to regain consciousness.

Izuku introduced his friends to his mother. His kinsects didn’t fully get what he was saying, but they understood that the new person was someone their master trusted, and in turn took a liking to her.

He had already told Nekoko of their current circumstances, so it knew who Inko was, so despite the language barrier it still cozied up to her. That was meowster’s mother, after all!

After bidding her farewell and downing breakfast with a few chomps, Izuku went to busy himself with overhauling his room interior.

He removed the All Might posters, as he deemed them unnecessary and a bit of an eyesore in his room. Izuku highly respected All Might as a hero, but his past self was on another level, practically worshiping All Might and pretty much developing an obsession.

Yeah, that had to go.

His kinsects were a big help, taking down the ones stuck to the ceiling. Though he would have preferred if the aftermath didn’t include the posters being shredded up from their mandibles and claws.

He couldn’t help but wonder who would win in a fight. A furious Rajang in its prime or All Might?

He had fought and slain one of those two, and he wasn’t planning on facing off the symbol of peace anytime soon.

_All Might and the Admiral could probably get along well._

Izuku decided to keep the Pro-Hero figurines, since they seemed like niche things to collect.

When he was done, he had a thought.

_I’d always wanted to go to UA…_

Looking at his palico that was belly-flopped on his bed and feeling the two kinsects settled on his head, he pondered deeply.

His body’s age was only twelve, and he should be in his first year of middle school. It would be about three years before he could be admitted to UA highschool.

But as an old soul in a young body, it felt unfair to join as a student. Indeed, UA could pave a path for him to become a hero and assist in pulling out the full potential of his ‘quirk’, but he had other ideas.

What if he could be accepted into UA, not as a student, but as a staff member? Izuku had fighting experience and also impressive control over his bioenergy. He was young, sure, but perhaps with his mannerisms he could persuade his employers into hiring him.

UA was Japan’s best hero school, and eccentricity came with being at the top. They might actually ignore his age in favor of his capabilities.

Accessing his laptop and pulling up the school’s website, it didn’t take long to find the online application form for applying to be part of school staff. Of course, as a prestigious highschool, there were many requirements needed before applying.

There was a checkbox that asked if he was a Pro-Hero. Izuku decided not to check that, since he believed UA would not discard serious applications just because the applicant was not a hero.

There were a lot of details to fill in, the vast majority compulsory. With how many text boxes there were, it could probably deter most internet trolls from sending fake applications.

It also showed how seriously UA was taking this, and how they would only give someone a chance once that person offered their trust first.

Then came the type of staff he wanted to be, and Izuku came to a realization.

The dropbox that listed out the options was also a text box. He could type in it.

Feeling a bit cheeky, instead of choosing ‘Undecided’, he typed out, ‘Surprise me’.

He giggled foolishly to himself.

At one point there was a question of why he wanted to be part of UA. He paused, mulling over it.

Was it because of his want to help others? Sure, there was that to take note of. Was it so that he could allow his mother to live a comfortable life? Undeniably. But there was something else. 

His fingers hovered over the keyboard.

Then he started typing.

Izuku’s soul was not young. His worldview was different than most. He was no longer a child shooting for the moon, to be a hero.

He was an adult who had already landed amongst the stars, the monster hunters. It was time for him to focus on the younger generation. To be the guide that would help them find their path to be their own type of hero. And also their protector, who would watch over them until the day they were prepared to leave the safety of their nests.

There was a spot to put a photo of himself, and he posed for the selfie with Nekoko. UA’s principal was an animal with a quirk, after all. His palico would be quite the attention grabber.

Knowing that the hospital was likely unable to hide the information that someone had awakened from a coma with a quirk, Izuku was planning to use that publicity to his advantage. Good thing there wasn’t anyone knocking on his door requesting to meet him, or else he would have to take ‘drastic measures’ to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.

“And… send.”

He clicked on the button before relaxing back on his chair. He glanced at his window.

Getting up, Izuku opened the window to let the fresh air and sunlight fill the room.

“It may not be as fresh, but it’s home, eh? Koko.” said Izuku.

“It’s so different here, meowster.” Nekoko wiped its face with its paw. “I can’t wait to learn more about your hometown with you, nya.”

He smiled at his companion before an idea popped up in his head. He opened the door to leave his room. “Stay here for now. I’ll bring you out of the house another day, so be patient, alright?”

Nekoko made what looked like a thumbs up with its paw before he left. Izuku made sure to pull the kinsects out of his hair.

Now out in the streets, Izuku followed the directions on his phone to the nearest gardening shop. He wanted to experiment a little more with his bioenergy.

Purchasing two small flower pots with his allowance, he turned to leave.

Then he walked back in to buy _soil_ of all things, but he didn’t want to be seen as a weirdo who dug playground soil with his bare hands. At least this soil came with packaging.

He decided to take a shortcut through an alley. In hindsight, this was a terrible decision for a kid, but Izuku was no kid, was he?

_I feel like someone’s gonna mug me._

A large figure stepped in front of him from behind god knows where.

_I knew it._

Cracking his fingers, the mugger looked down on Izuku with a glare that would intimidate any middle school kid. “Give me your money and no one gets hurt.”

Izuku was decidedly unimpressed. Did this dude think he had a lot of cash to spare?

“Putting on a brave face? Don’t bother. There’s no one here for you to impress,” the thug said before turning and grabbing the lip of a nearby dumpster and bending the metal with ease. “Now don’t waste my time.”

He turned back to face the kid again only to be greeted by quite a sight.

Izuku’s face conveyed an emotion that he had not felt in a while.

Disdain.

The thug felt like questioning his whole existence.

And he should! Because using a strength quirk and their naturally large frame to scare kids into giving him money? Of all the things to do with one’s life…

“What a waste,” he muttered to nobody in particular, but the man heard his words.

“W-what did you say?! You think you can just insult me to my face and get away with it?” Recovering quickly, the mugger swung at Izuku’s face.

…

Izuku walked out of the other side of the alley as he pocketed his phone after making a call. It was time to go home.

And if one would look deeper into the alley, they would see a large man on his side, curled up and clutching his broken nose. Blood was flowing out of it and tears were leaking from his eyes.

“I-I’ll change my ways… I swear…!” He gritted out in pain, a look of fear plastered all over his face.

_That kid… no, monster!_

_“Using your quirk for something like this… I don’t know how long you’ve kept this up, but you may be redeemable. Depends on what the authorities say, though.”_

He tried to act smart and say that he would accuse the kid of assault and not tell the truth. Like an idiot.

_“What did you say… mister?”_

Shivers went down the man’s spine when he heard that tone of voice.

_“You, the one who swung first. You, the one who mugs little kids. And you’re saying you want to deny these claims…?_

“N-no! I won’t… I-I’ll tell the truth! So please don’t hurt me…!” he said aloud, but there was no one around to hear him.

_“Hey, mister…”_

The mugger had made the mistake of sparing a glance. And that face would be etched into his mind for the rest of his life.

Glowing blue eyes that carried an intent that he was too afraid to decipher. A bright smile commonly seen on children. The contrast between the two was so large that he was _terrified_.

_“You quirk is quite cool, you know…? I think you can do better things with it.”_

The kid had said before leaving. It would have been somewhat comforting… if it hadn’t felt like he had been dunked into a freezing lake.

Faint sounds of sirens echoed in the alleyway.

* * *

Once in the comfort of his own home with Tachi and Nibui back on his head, Izuku filled the two flower pots with soil before letting his bioenergy circulate through his body. With the image in his mind, he held out his palm and two small objects materialized on top of it, bathed in blue light.

A might seed and an adamant seed.

The might seed was a dark red color and the adamant seed was a dark yellow. Both of them had the shape of a pea, but their size was much larger than peas.

Izuku planted the might seed in one pot and the adamant seed in the other pot. In his previous life, both species of plants grew at the same rate so he wasn’t afraid to use two different seeds to conduct the experiment.

Besides, they would add color to the room once they grew.

He set down the pot which contained the adamant seed on the window sill inside the room. For the might seed, he twirled his finger in an unnecessary fashion before bioenergy leaked from it. He let the energy fall into the soil.

Now with two flower pots on his window sill, Izuku was satisfied.

Then he realized he had not eaten lunch.

_Ah, I was supposed to buy takeout for myself._

He glanced at the bioenergy lingering on his fingertips. His eyes turned to the direction of the fridge.

Izuku was a man of many talents in his past life. _Many_ talents.

* * *

Inko returned from work, deciding to no longer work overtime. She wanted to spend more time with her son, who was undoubtedly also working hard for their family.

Then a heavenly smell struck her, halting her in place. It came from the kitchen.

She snapped out of her stupor and walked to the source.

There Izuku was, making use of almost every kitchen utensil they had in the kitchen to cook something absolutely divine.

On the dining table was his ca- ‘palico’, sitting politely on one of the chairs, waiting for the meal. There was also his ‘kinsects’ scuttling in circles on top of the table in what seemed like impatience.

“Don’t worry about dinner, mom! I’ll whip up something good. You can just rest for now.” Izuku called from the kitchen.

While she heard what he said, Inko was not used to the drastic change. Usually, she was the one who cooked dinner for the both of them, but it seemed the tables had turned.

So she sat herself down by the dining table, feeling like she had to do something, but had nothing to actually do.

Her son had spread his wings and soared far into the skies above.

And Inko feared the day Izuku may fly away from her. Glancing at him taking charge of the family, she was conflicted. She needed to remind herself that he was an adult in a child’s body.

But it was because of that, she was scared that her son didn’t need his mother anymore. It sounded selfish, she knew, but that was because she was not prepared for that day to come so soon.

“Mom!”

Inko’s gaze shot forward, only to meet Izuku’s face popping out from the kitchen.

With a smile, he asked, “Do you want to help me cook dinner?”

She was so surprised that it took a few seconds before she replied. “O-of course! I would love to help!”

Perhaps it was true that Izuku didn’t need his mother anymore. 

“I’ve never seen this fish before!”

“It’s called sushifish, mom. It’s a delicacy from my other home.”

He didn’t need his father, that was for sure.

“Looks like I’ll have to go grocery shopping for more vegetables, because I’m pretty sure you almost emptied out fridge!”

“Eheh, sorry…”

But those two would continue to stick with each other for a long time, their love unconditional.

“Now that’s a cooking method you’ll have to teach me one day, young man!”

“Sure! You just had to ask.”

After all, they were family.

“You don’t plan on eating all of _this_ tonight, are you?!”

“Oh yeah… I forgot I’m no longer in my previous body… we can reheat it for tomorrow’s lunch, then!”

Perhaps not even death can do them apart.

…

Laying on his bed, Izuku prepared to go to sleep. His might seed had already sprouted its leaves and was on its way to lengthening its stem. His adamant seed had yet to sprout out anything, however. That was to be expected.

Nekoko was sleeping on the foot of his bed, and his kinsects were settled dormant on his desk. As much as he wanted to experiment more on his bioenergy, there was no need to rush things. Tomorrow, he would check on his plants and go from there.

Closing his eyes, Izuku’s consciousness faded to Black.

…

Only for him to wake up stumbling on solid ground. He inspected his surroundings quickly, seeing broken walls and the same bricks of a dull grey color. The place looked familiar somehow…

Then he spotted the Dragonator and the ballistas.

“Oh no… no, no, no…” Izuku’s breathing hitched, his posture straightened. His body was no different, but the world…

He looked up, seeing the fast-moving dark blue and purple clouds. His hands clenched so tightly it drew blood.

This place… the same place as _that_ day. The wall and the floor were the same color. The surroundings were akin to ruins.

“Why… why am I here…?!” His visage contorted in rage, his teeth audibly grinding against each other before his expression settled into a snarl. His eyes turned bloodshot.

**“Castle Schrade.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger, yo.
> 
> Don't go hating on me now.
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Admiral: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Admiral  
> Castle Schrade (Scroll down for Fourth Generation): https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Castle_Schrade


	5. Black Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments give me life, yall. I appreciate the support!
> 
> Without further ado, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

As Izuku stood atop Castle Schrade with nothing but fury in his heart, unwanted memories came rushing to his head. He shook his head. Losing his temper would not do him any good. If _it_ was here, he would be hopeless before it by himself.

**Death to humanity…**

Familiar whispers echoed in the wind. Izuku stood frozen in place, cold sweat dripping from his chin.

**Unforgivable…**

There was movement from the corner of his eyes, and Izuku turned to look at it, only to see nothing.

**Vengeance for the dragons…**

“Fatalis.” He muttered to himself.

As far as he knew, he wasn’t wearing any Fatalis equipment. So how could he hear these voices? Izuku was also in his young body.

**You think… you could escape… from me?**

Izuku’s eyes widened in shock. It was indeed the same Black Dragon he and his comrades had slain those few years ago. But how was he here? How was the Fatalis here?

His soul. The will of Fatalis. It had followed him back home. And he was going to pay the price for it.

_No._

Izuku wasn’t going down quietly. In a one-on-one, the Fatalis would most likely be superior. He needed to use another method. The chances it would work?

Damn close to zero.

“But not zero.” He whispered as he sat down cross-legged.

As long as the Fatalis was intelligent, there was a possibility that he could get out of this alive. So he calmed his heart and shut his eyes.

Then he began to sing.

_“When the world is full of wyverns_

_The legend is revived_

_Meat is eaten, Bone is crunched._

_And blood is sucked up dry”_

Izuku could hear heavy footprints from everywhere and anywhere. He paid it no mind.

_“He burns the earth_

_And melts through iron_

_He boils the rivers_

_And mows down trees_

_He awakens the winds_

_And lights an inferno.”_

Sounds of the Dragon’s tail being dragged on the ground was audible. Still, Izuku continued.

_“He is called Fatalis_

_The wyvern of destiny_

_He is called Fatalis_

_The wyvern of destruction_

_Call for help_

_Run for your lives_

_And don't forget to_

_Pray to the skies.”_

A low growl. Fatalis made itself known. He kept singing.

_“He is called Fatalis_

_The wyvern of destiny_

_He is called Fatalis_

_The wyvern of destruction_

_Fatalis, Fatalis_

_Heaven and Earth are yours_

_Fatalis, Fatalis_

_Heaven and Earth are yours.”_

After singing ‘The Legend of the Black Dragon’, Izuku opened his eyes and stood up. He turned around.

And sure enough, the Fatalis was behind him.

Over forty meters long from its snout to the tip of its tail. White spines lined its body of black scales and its large wings were tucked into its body. It stood on its hind legs as it exuded a menacing air.

Izuku was in the presence of humanity’s perfect enemy. And he wanted to talk to it.

He felt something on both his hands and glanced down to see his left hand clutching on to a sword and his right hand held a shield. _Le Limier_ , the sword and shield of Shagaru Magala.

Both the sword and shield were drenched in the Fatalis’s blood. The Black Dragon licked at its missing eye with its long tongue. There was also a broken horn on its head.

Being watched by an eye of hatred, both of them knew very well who caused those injuries.

The Fatalis wanted a rematch.

And as much as Izuku desired for the same, there were more important things to focus on. If he lost, chances are, there would be a Fatalis wreaking havoc upon Earth. He couldn’t allow that.

Firming his resolve, Izuku spoke, “I do not wish to fight.”

And the Fatalis tilted its snout upwards, eye still locked on him.

_Is it… looking down on me?_

Izuku could not tell if its eye conveyed condescension, but its actions caused his blood to boil.

Then he smelled the sweet yet sickly familiar smell.

The Fatalis opened its mouth as it bent its head forward to look straight at Izuku. A fire burned in its mouth and the Fatalis spewed out an inferno.

Izuku had barely enough time to dodge imminent death.

“I only wish to talk!”

It did not listen. Why should the Fatalis hear out its most hated human? The same one that took its life.

It had awoken in this place with its memories intact. The Fatalis remembered when the pesky hunter had surrendered to its will, only to have its host be killed by another dragon.

It had hid in this mindscape of sorts, to learn that the one holding him was the same hunter that had supposedly died. Looking at Izuku’s small body and the weak humans around him, it wanted to laugh.

The Fatalis possessed shared vision with its host. It was also intelligent. Frighteningly so. Their souls were linked… but nothing suggested that one soul couldn’t live without the other.

**Weak… weak!**

Its roars resounded all over the castle in its path of destruction, its target constantly managing to dodge, but only by the skin of his teeth.

**This world has weak humans… the dragons will rule over them!**

**Weak green brat… weak mother…**

The Fatalis’s tail slammed into a tower which fell onto Izuku.

**I may already have the heavens all for myself… but humans do not deserve the earth!**

Its body slammed onto the fallen tower, sending debris flying everywhere. Izuku’s body was also sent into the air and he landed ungracefully with a tumble. Blood flowed out from his scalp and there were bloodstains on his nightwear. He could feel all of it, despite knowing that his original body was asleep at home.

He got to his feet with shaky limbs and gritted teeth. It… was still possible to get out of this alive.

“Fatalis… you are an intelligent dragon… so please…” Izuku cursed the shudder in his voice. How was he supposed to gain its interest in speaking without him putting up a fight? His chances were already slim, but it just got slimmer.

Izuku heard heavy footfalls in front of him as a large shadow was cast in over him. He looked up to see the imposing figure of the Black Dragon in front of him. Izuku despaired.

He hated the fear in his heart.

There was a trace of mockery in the Fatalis’s eyes, and it was that day all over again.

* * *

“Please… get up! Senior Wolfgang!” Midoriya Izuku, Hunter Rank 850. There were tears in his eyes as he tried to drag a hunter to safety.

Wolfgang, Hunter Rank 999. After taking a likely fatal hit from the Black Dragon, the man could barely do anything as he watched his junior try in vain to save him.

“Izuku, my friend… please save yourself…” He said with much effort, his grasp on his consciousness slipping. “I cannot be saved…”

“No! I will save you! People need you, so please…!”

Izuku had heard the tales of Wolfgang, and how he had slain a Shagaru Magala and prevented anymore frenzy outbreaks from happening in his region. He had witnessed as the man came out of retirement to pursue and hunt down another Shagaru Magala, much older and stronger than the first.

The dragon was hiding, biding its time until a perfect opportunity came for it to spread its frenzy virus in the most efficient way.

Unfortunately for the Elder Dragon, Wolfgang was already hot on its trails.

Izuku was the one who had fought alongside Wolfgang against the Shagaru Magala and won the battle together. It was only a year later when a Fatalis was reported to have been spotted in Castle Schrade.

Both of them had met up with two other living legends to slay the Black Dragon.

_So how did it end up like this?_

A shadow was cast over both of them, and Izuku froze.

The Fatalis loomed over them like a death god, its eyes of hatred piercing through Izuku’s soul. Over time, he had forgotten this feeling in his chest…

The feeling of paralyzing fear.

The Dragon’s head shot forwards and Izuku felt something shoving him out of the way.

Wolfgang’s mega demondrug-empowered strength pushed Izuku a far distance away from his demise. The last thing Wolfgang said before the Fatalis’s jaws snapped shut on him was:

“Live.”

* * *

The Fatalis stared at the cowering hunter in front of it. Just like old times.

Baring its sharp and serrated teeth, it lumbered forth slowly, tauntingly, and absolutely threateningly.

The world was there for the taking. All the Fatalis needed to do was to finally get rid of Izuku and take over his body once more.

**Where are your comrades now?**

Then it made a mistake by saying those words.

Something inside Izuku snapped. His eyes turned even more bloodshot. His fear turned into a blazing anger and he released all of his pent up bloodlust.

**“FATALIS!”**

The Dragon reeled back instinctively.

Then it made eye contact with Izuku. Looking at his expression of hatred and and rage, it was the Fatalis’s turn to feel something from the back of its mind.

**“HOW DARE YOU?!”**

Izuku’s aura was unrelenting, and while it was nothing the Fatalis couldn’t handle, it was _his_ aura.

From the same hunter that made the Black Dragon feel-

And all it saw was red.

* * *

_He_ approached, bloodied sword and shield in _his_ hands.

Through the dark smolders of wrath that seemed to cover _his_ face, _his_ expression was blank. Unsettlingly so.

The Fatalis was on the ground, struggling to get up.

**“How dare you?”**

There was no emotion in _his_ tone. None that even the Fatalis could detect.

A foot stomped forcefully onto its head. The sword was raised high.

**“This one… is for Wolfgang.”**

And _he_ stabbed-

* * *

The Fatalis roared at the top of its lungs, sending a few fragile structures crumbling down to the ground.

How dare a human make it feel fear? Who did that insect think he was?

**Burn in the pits of Hell and tell them I sent you!**

The Fatalis rushed forward, a fire bubbling in its throat. Right before it opened its mouth, however, Izuku yelled something that stopped the Fatalis in its tracks.

**“THERE ARE NO DRAGONS FOR YOU TO AVENGE!”**

The Fatalis processed those words and glared down at Izuku, prompting him to continue quickly or it would run out of patience. Izuku inhaled once and glared back.

“This world… has no dragons. There never was.” He stated.

**Impossible. If there were no dragons, then the inhabitants of the world would have been destroyed by the unbalance.**

Izuku sighed, his anger slowly leaving him. “This world is called Earth, and humans had ruled over it for thousands of years.”

**Of course they have. Humans only desire more and more. They have no regard over the other myriad races of the world in their pursuit for power.**

Izuku was silent for a moment, before his expression became saddened. “Fatalis, you…”

**You dare look at me with eyes of pity, insect?**

“ … Your hatred for humans is no longer justified.”

His voice was soft. Perhaps too soft when talking with a monster like the Fatalis. But it heard him.

**… What?**

Hearing a hint of curiosity, Izuku bit the bullet and made the decision to sit down cross-legged on the ground again.

“My world… is billions of years old. Humans had only appeared about ten thousand or so years ago.” He said, pulling out anything he could remember about Earth from his photographic memory. “It had always been the same. The biggest threat to the inhabitants of Earth was always the world itself, never the other living beings.”

“Meteors commonly fell from the sky. The affected areas of earthquakes spanned several kilometers. Tidal waves came from the sea and crashed onto the land. There could be a thunderstorm raging anywhere. The same can be said for drought. All of this could happen anytime, regardless of the victims. And…”

Izuku paused for dramatic effect. He needed to pull all stops, after all.

“Even after all this time of harsh tribulations throughout the life of Earth, there were no dragons.”

He could see the Fatalis’s eye widening by a fraction. A reaction.

“When the first humans came to be, we were not a significant bunch in such a large world. We were weak, but intelligent. Over time, that became our greatest strength as we invented many things that would help sustain ourselves. It was with those inventive minds that humans were able to survive the Earth’s trials until today.

And even when our technology surpassed that of your world, there was always conflict between us. Humans have never truly united as one. We had no wars with dragons. We had wars with each other.”

The Fatalis gave a knowing look as it settled on all fours.

“While humans killed each other, they have never made structures out of living creatures. Our civilization has learned and is still learning. Greed may be prominent in the hearts of many, but at the very least, most people know the difference between right and wrong. We are not like the Ancient Civilization.

There may have been forbidden acts done by humans, but they are what they are. Forbidden. No one would dare carry out such acts lest they be ostracized from society. And…”

Izuku looked at the Fatalis with hurt in his eyes. “Even when you were alive… mankind had changed in that world. Fatalis… you were born with innate abhorrence towards humans.”

He uncrossed his legs and stood up. “You are intelligent, Fatalis. We both know that. So I must ask you. Is your only reason for existence to get rid of humanity?”

The Fatalis listened, unblinking. It did not answer, so Izuku continued speaking, “Fatalis… Heaven and Earth no longer belong to you.”

The Black Dragon raised its head, a snarl developing on its face before it paused, looking at the scene developing before it..

Getting down on his knees and lowering his head, Izuku pleaded, “Please. Give humanity a chance. We’re not all corrupted by greed. I believe if there were dragons, most people would wish to protect them, after learning they are simply just part of the world’s ecosystem.”

Seeing the one that killed it prostrating on the ground and completely vulnerable, the Fatalis should have killed him right then and there. But it didn’t.

Indeed, it was intelligent, so it could ponder.

Both the Black Dragon and Izuku had mutual fear and hatred for each other, but Izuku wished for there to be a compromise.

While in Izuku’s mind, he went as far as to beg the Fatalis to spare him because Earth and its inhabitants did not deserve to experience the cataclysm that was the Fatalis. If that happened, it would be entirely his fault for bringing the Dragon here in the first place.

_This shall be one of my many responsibilities._

While in the mind of the Fatalis, for the very first time, it pondered deeply. In its heart, it wanted to do its duty and wipe out all humans and live out the rest of its life satisfied with that. But wouldn’t that make the Fatalis no better than a bloodthirsty monster that kills for the sake of killing? After all, there were no dragons to avenge here. There was just itself and its host.

The Fatalis wanted to think for itself as it had technically already failed to do its duty when it was killed a few years ago. In its head, the chains that had carried its burden of killing off humanity were finally unshackled.

The Fatalis felt… lighter. Sure, it might still hate humans, but there was nothing forcing it to go out of its way to eradicate them. The Black Dragon felt…

Free.

And curiosity took its place.

**What of quirks?**

Izuku lifted his head and blinked in surprise before replying. “Well… I also don’t quite know of their origin, but over two hundred years ago, a child that could glow was born. That was supposedly the first quirk-user.

Because of the, uh, _imbalance_ in power between the quirkless and the ones with quirks, there was quite a bit of chaos in the beginning. I believe there was even a war.”

Then he gained a thoughtful expression. “Actually, now that I think about it… I guess you could say:

We are our own dragons.”

Those words resonated in the Fatalis’s head.

_‘We are our own dragons.’_

There was something about that sentence that it couldn’t help but wonder. The hunter was quite good with words.

Now, all the Fatalis wanted was a reason for its continued existence. Perhaps… following Izuku could prove beneficial.

**There is no longer a reason not for me to concede. Midoriya Izuku, you have convinced me to spare humanity.**

Izuku’s eyes widened. Both from hearing the Fatalis say his name and for being able to succeed at placating the Black Dragon.

“Then… on behalf of mankind…” Izuku did something unthinkable in the face of the Fatalis.

He smiled.

“Thank you.”

As they sat in the presence of each other, they couldn’t help but think. Maybe one day… they might just find it in themselves to forgive each other.

“So… how do I get out of here?” Izuku asked sheepishly. The Fatalis gave him a look.

**I will let your consciousness return… but first.**

A sea of blue light poured from its mouth, engulfing Izuku. He panicked a little at first, until he realized what the substance was.

“Bioenergy?!”

That was right. It turned out that the Fatalis had its own reserve of bioenergy!

**Consider this a parting gift.**

As the bright lights filled his vision, Izuku could somewhat feel his physical body experiencing stress.

_What is it doing to my body?!_

**And don’t worry. The egg isn’t mine.**

“What? Egg?!” He shouted before waking up in cold sweat. He felt too tired to even open his eyes.

_What the hell… I feel exhausted. Did the Fatalis do this?_

“Meowster! You’re finally awake!” His palico exclaimed in alarm. “Stop using up your energy, nya! You might go into another coma!”

_Why is Koko so panicked? Wait, another coma?!_

Izuku’s eyes snapped open and he breathed deeply. He registered in his vision that the whole room was lit up by copious amounts of bioenergy. And he was losing more by the second.

_What the hell is absorbing my bioenergy like this?_

He felt something warm and extremely heavy in his arms. Izuku glanced down, gaping at the scene.

It was an egg. A giant black egg. It had a strange texture on its shell.

And it was siphoning his bioenergy like there was no tomorrow. As Izuku forcefully put a halt to that, he couldn’t help but say aloud:

“At least it’s not a Fatalis egg.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may not be a Fatalis egg, but I still think the monster inside is worthy enough for the hype!
> 
> But don't get your hopes too high. It's not going to get revealed until a really long time.
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Fatalis: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Fatalis


	6. Beginning the Impact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like I couldn't update yesterday. Well, some of you have expressed your understanding over these things, so let's not brood over it.
> 
> Instead, enjoy the longest chapter yet!

As the light show slowly subsided and the bioenergy returned to Izuku’s body, he inspected the egg. Its shell was a sleek black, and somewhat smooth. It wasn’t an average wyvern or herbivore egg, that’s for sure.

“Nya, meowster, why did you make an egg in your sleep?” Asked Nekoko. Izuku was just as confused as it.

“Uhh… apparently it was a gift from the Fatalis?” He said skeptically. Nekoko jumped.

“Nya! A Fatalis?  _ The  _ big bad dragon? Where? Did it come here with us?” The palico began to panic a bit. Izuku had to calm it down by explaining his circumstances.

Nekoko had never seen a Fatalis before, but it knew that Izuku had. The night that the palico came to be, Izuku had been talking the whole night away to help his companion catch up on recent events. Nekoko was also curious about what had happened to its meowster after its passing.

“That sounds a bit fishy. What if the Fatalis put itself in the egg?” Nekoko pondered out loud.

Izuku voiced his thoughts, “I don’t think Fatalis would lie. It’s extremely powerful, and in turn, very prideful. I doubt it wants to be known as a liar. But I still don’t know why it gave me this.”

He pulled the large egg into an upright position. It was actually much heavier than himself. Izuku inwardly praised the quality of his bed’s frame.

“We’ve come to a truce. If it wanted to stab me in the back, there’s no reason for it to go about in such a convoluted way. The Fatalis would’ve just flaunted its strength and killed me on the spot when I was vulnerable.”

Izuku knocked on the shell, surprised at how sturdy it was. “This thing could probably survive falling off a cliff. That means that whatever monster is inside isn’t completely soft-bodied. They would need something powerful to break the shell from the inside.”

_ Or maybe the egg hatches when the time comes? We can’t be a hundred percent sure about monster eggs… _

He got up from his bed and walked to the window. To his dismay, his experiment had been hampered by the recent surge of bioenergy and both seeds had grown to their full sizes inside those small flower pots.

The plants were almost his height! Since it was settled on a window, the pod that contained its seeds was just out of reach.

Honestly, that experiment was just a fun little thing he wanted to do. Izuku was quite sure his bioenergy could very easily speed up the growth of plants by substituting as its nutrients. Seeing the two otherworldly flora grow so large in foreign soil without the help of fertilizers, he believed his hypothesis was reached.

Opening the bedroom window, he let the sunlight bathe the room’s interior. Izuku turned back to the egg sitting on his bed. His interest was thoroughly piqued.

_ … Let’s incubate it. _

He walked back to his bed and wrapped his blanket around the egg. His body was constantly at its peak condition thanks to bioenergy, so he didn’t need it anyway. Lifting the egg up with a grunt of effort, Izuku waddled over to the corner of his room and placed it down.

_ Egg quests were a nightmare. _

He hummed a little tune from his previous world a song sung by the Diva as he stepped out of his room. It had just occurred to him that he was starving.

_ It’s a relief I can regenerate my bioenergy with food. It’s just that I need a lot of food. _

Izuku had woken up after his mother had already left for work. Breakfast was already on top of the dining table, but. He was  _ starving _ .

So he opened up the rather empty fridge(that was his doing) and took his lunch out of there to reheat. He was going to eat breakfast and lunch for breakfast.

…

Hopefully his mom wouldn’t mind working on another large dinner.

While the food was reheating, Izuku went back to his room to look through his hero analysis notebooks after powering up his laptop. The books had the beginnings of mold sprouting on them, the pages taking on a yellowish tint. The latest one was #8, and looking through the notes inside, he was not surprised by the lackluster content.

While it was true his younger self had a knack for analysis, Izuku had to push that talent to its limits in his other life when facing off monsters of all types. The environment, the monsters’ experience with dealing with hunters, remembering the bestiary’s studies from the top of his head while engaging in battle at the same time.

The difference in skills between G-Rank / Master-Rank hunters and High-Rank hunters were like Heaven and Earth. A completely different level.

Huh. That sounded a lot like he was boasting.

Clearing the thoughts in his head, he put his notebook back with the other seven. Pulling out a drawer from his desk, he found a couple of empty notebooks that were also slightly moldy. It looked like he needed to buy some new ones.

Izuku got on his laptop to find an email sent to him from UA. They had taken his application seriously and was actually arranging an interview for him with the principal himself.

Tomorrow.

Well weren’t they keen on meeting him?

“Koko, it’s time for breakfast.” He said after hearing the beeping.

“Nya, I’m not hungry.” The palico said offhandedly, prompting Izuku to perk up in surprise. “The bioenergy went into my body and I didn’t feel hungry anymore. I don’t even feel a little bit tired!”

The gears in his head turned. Once. With a click, his analytical prowess came into play.

_ While the bioenergy can strengthen my fleshly body over time, it only serves as a large reserve of energy, which means I still need to eat to produce more bioenergy. It seems for my creations, however, not only does it strengthen them, they can also treat it as nourishment. In fact, since they manifested from bioenergy, it’s most likely they can live off it without repercussions. _

“I see,” he said simply.

Then he left to eat a large breakfast. Well, large by a teenager’s standards. Izuku was confident that one day his body would be improved by bioenergy so much that he could consume a whole hunter’s meal in spite of his small size.

Since he was free, he went out of his apartment to purchase some notebooks.

…

“How did I get here?” Izuku said to no one in particular.

There was a plastic bag of several new notebooks he had bought recently on one hand. His other hand was pointing at the impressive collection of cooking utensils in front of him.

“And why won’t they sell larger pans? Cowards.”

Izuku decided to buy a large wok which put a dent in his allowance. Now that he thought about it, was this how grocery shopping felt like? He wasn’t one to visit the markets from the other world very often.

Books in his left hand and wok over his shoulder behind his back being held by his right hand, he made his way home.

Then he stopped after hearing a familiar voice.

“DEKU!”

Izuku turned around, not at all in a rush to see his former bully.

“Who the hell do you think you are?!” Bakugou shouted at him, about to breach his personal space.

Listening to hot-tempered blonde, Izuku realized something.

_ Bakugou… I don’t miss you at all. _

“Long time no see,” said Izuku before a hand grabbed onto his shoulder roughly. The fabric of his shirt started smoldering from Bakugou’s quirk.

_ Has his class not started yet? Not that I know which middle school he applied to. _

“You think you’re so much better with a quirk now, huh?! Little quirkless Deku waking up with a quirk and dropping out of school?!” He shoved his phone at Izuku’s face to show the article that had been making rounds online. Izuku’s face remained passive, but in his heart he was relieved that his situation wasn’t too out of hand on the internet.

“I bet you’ve been lying about your quirk all this time. You probably used your coma as a perfect excuse to reveal your quirk to gain a bit of fame. Then the next thing everyone knows, you’re in UA with your own little fan base cheering you on. Well I can see through your tricks, Deku!” Bakugou’s grip tightened, and if this was a year ago, Izuku would have been trying his best to appear smaller.

But this wasn’t a year ago. His face took on an expression of disappointment.

_ Bakugou… you are smart, but because of your grudge with me, your anger clouds your rationality and it resorts to these claims. _

Looking at Izuku’s face, Bakugou quickly realized that the formerly quirkless nobody(formerly quirkless, he’s still a nobody), was looking at  _ him  _ with pity.

“Why the fuck are you looking at me like that?!” He all but screamed as his quirk began heating up and blackening Izuku’s shirt.  _ And how are you not phased by the pain? _

“Bakugou.”

He froze in disbelief. Izuku had called him by his last name. Firmly.

Even when Izuku grabbed the offending hand and pulled it from his shoulder, Bakugou did not understand why he didn’t react.

Then Izuku spoke.

“You’re being delusional.”

Bakugou snapped out of it, hearing those words  _ very  _ clearly. His anger was renewed.

Firing up his quirk, small explosions crackled atop his palms. “What the fuck did you just-”

Before he could finish his sentence and begin ‘putting Deku in his place’, the upper half of his vision was obscured by something black.

Then a wok slammed onto the upside of his head.

Bakugou was seeing stars. He heard something along the lines of ‘see you later’ from Izuku before he tripped over himself and fell to the ground. It took a humiliatingly long time for him to recover.

Since rush hour was already over and class had already started for most schools, there wasn’t anyone to hear the enraged scream from Bakugou.

“DEKU!!!”

Except Izuku himself, of course. He had decided to leave, knowing that it was highly unlikely Bakugou would listen to him in that state. The burn on his shoulder? Barely first degree. He had been blown up point blank range by the scales of a Seething Bazelgeuse before. What was Bakugou’s quirk compared to it?

_ What about a giant omelette for dinner? _ He thought, a herbivore egg in mind.

* * *

“Izuku? Where are you going this early in the morning?” Asked Inko. Izuku was putting on his shoes, kinsects on his head and palico sticking close to him. He hadn’t even had breakfast yet!

“Ah, I’m going to get interviewed by UA. Probably by the principal himself.” He replied, standing up and turning to her with a smile on his face. “They accepted my application.”

Inko blinked. Once. Twice. Then she lunged forward to give her son a hug.

“My Izuku is going to support the family from now on!” She cried while Izuku hugged her back, slightly embarrassed.

“Mom, it’s too early in the morning to be crying.” He said before pulling back from the hug. “And I don’t know if they’ll actually hire me, it’s only an interview.”

“Oh, I’m sure they will. If not, then they would have made the biggest mistake ever since UA’s founding.” Inko said sincerely, seeing her son off.

Izuku was going to do great things in the future. She just knew it.

On his end, having taken the train as to not be late, Izuku had to deal with curious bystanders from all sides. Annoyed, he decided to freerun through the more empty areas all the way to his destination, his palico following behind him with ease.

Then he reached UA’s gates. There was also an escort that was standing there, waiting for him.

…

Aizawa Shouta was not impressed by the kid in front of him. This one, Midoriya Izuku, had somehow caught the interest of the principal himself. His pets though…

That made him curious.

A bipedal cat and two giant bugs… the media had said the kid had a body enhancement quirk, but Aizawa wasn’t one to blindly believe the media. Clearly, there was some muscle behind those slim arms, but it’s not impossible to maintain one’s figure even after a year of inactivity. Just what exactly was his quirk?

“Call me Eraserhead. I’m here to escort you to the principal’s office and be a witness to your interview.” He said simply before turning around, expecting Midoriya to follow. The kid did so without hesitation, walking right beside him.

There was an air of maturity around Midoriya that Aizawa, for the life of him, couldn’t tell if the kid was just pretending or he was actually that well-mannered. As many doubts as he had he wanted to voice, Aizawa would have to wait for the interview to start for Nedzu to ask the questions.

They walked silently to their destination. There were a few curious students on the way, but none curious enough to stop Aizawa for questions. They reached the office before long.

Aizawa twisted the knob and the door opened with a click. Inside, UA’s principal awaited with a smile on his face.

“Greetings! You must be Midoriya. Please, take a seat.” Nedzu said in a chipper tone that Aizawa wanted  _ nothing  _ to do with. Izuku complied, face unchanging from his small smile. Aizawa sat on a chair beside Nedzu.

“Now, you might be wondering, what am I? A bear? A mouse? A dog? Well I’m the principal!” He said. Izuku already knew that, but didn’t interrupt him and Nedzu was quite happy with that.

“So, Midoriya, let’s begin with some basic questions.” The principal pulled up some papers that were most likely his printed application. “You are only turning thirteen this year, correct?”

Izuku nodded, so he continued, “At such a young age, do you truly believe you have the experience to be part of UA’s staff? It doesn’t just mean you have to know how to teach. It could also mean assisting in combat or dealing with a student’s mental wellbeing.”

Izuku breathed in once and said, “I would say I do, principal. I know it sounds unbelievable, coming from someone who is essentially a child, but I like to believe actions speak louder than words.”

Nedzu let out a small hum as he looked through the papers. “You call your quirk Bioenergy, and you’ve described that your quirk generates a special type of energy that strengthens your physical body. But that’s not all, is there?”

The principal had a curious glint in his eyes which made Aizawa feel apprehensive despite it not being directed at him. Izuku remained calm as he spoke.

“You would be right about that.” Blue lights were produced from his palm and they drifted throughout the room. “Strengthening the body is only one of its uses. It can also maintain my body in its peak condition for perhaps a week without repercussions. If I wish, I can go without sleeping or eating for longer. But I have yet to test it, considering my situation.”

Nedzu listened attentively, while Aizawa was just sitting there, wanting to learn more on literally anything else about Izuku’s quirk. The principal knew better than to interrupt. Since Midoriya was respectful, he would give the same amount of respect to the boy.

“And the…  _ hidden  _ part of my quirk… I suppose the secret is safe within the walls of UA?” Izuku asked genuinely.

“Of course, if you wish,” replied Nedzu, glancing to Aizawa with an unreadable expression. The teacher knew what that meant and nodded, giving a silent vow not to reveal the contents of this discussion.

“Thank you,” Izuku smiled in relief. “You could say my quirk can create living beings.”

There was a beat of silence. Eraserhead became wide-eyed in surprise. Nedzu stopped smiling and stared at Izuku. He seemed to be thinking over his words.

Nedzu regained his bright smile and spoke in excitement, “That is quite the impressive quirk you have manifested, Midoriya! Imagine the potential it has!”

While Izuku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, Aizawa’s face slowly soured. Who knew what was on his mind.

“Now I must ask, why didn’t you instead wait a few more years and then apply as a student? If you did, we could help with testing the limits of your quirk.” Questioned Nedzu, although he had an idea of the answer.

Izuku turned his gaze to the side slightly, a serene expression on his face. “Well… while I’ve always wanted to be a hero… it’s not my top priority. Nor is training my quirk.”

He faced the principal once more. “Besides… it would be unfair for the students if I had joined when I graduated from middle school.”

Nedzu looked into Midoriya’s eyes to see… not cockiness. Not overconfidence. But absolute certainty. He discreetly raised an eyebrow in intrigue.

Behind his scarf, Aizawa was silently grinding his teeth in irritation.

“You’ve stated it clearly in your application, but I’ll ask you this personally. What is your main reason for applying? Your first priority,” said Nedzu. Aizawa had furrowed brows.

Izuku answered truthfully, “As I’ve stated in my application, to put it honestly, my first priority is money.”

Eraserhead stood up abruptly, eyes red and hair floating upwards. He’d had enough of this. Quirk active, he spoke bluntly to the source of his ire. “UA is not some place where you apply just for a good income, but it’s clear that-”

The palico jumped in front of Izuku protectively, hissing at Aizawa. He actually flinched back a little.

“Calm down, Koko,” its meowster chided with a light frown. Izuku pulled Nekoko up onto his lap. “Eraserhead is a hero, he wouldn’t hurt me without a good reason.”

He sent an apologetic smile to Aizawa. “Please forgive my palico. He’s quite protective of me, given our… circumstances.”

The tenderness in his eyes when he said the last part was something they couldn’t quite decipher. And what was a palico?

Aizawa decided to carry on. “Anyway, it’s clear to see your thought process was that you thought UA would hire anyone with a strong quirk and good manners. You would be wrong.”

He scowled in annoyance and said, “Did you seriously think that the school would be that shallow to hire someone like that? Let alone a child much younger than our first years? You’re not thinking realistically, kid.”

Izuku blinked, confusion rather than shock on his face. He said slowly, “Eraserhead… have you read my application?”

“No, I haven’t. Nor do I plan to, with that mindset of yours,” said Aizawa with a scoff.

Wait. Why was Nedzu looking at him like that?

“Money may be my first priority for now, but that doesn’t mean I will focus on other matters less. Besides, it won’t be my first priority for too long,” said Izuku.

“What do you mean it won’t be for long?” Aizawa asked with a frown on his face.

“I need the money to settle my mother’s debt.”

He froze. There was disappointment towards him in the principal’s eyes.

“The hospital debt for keeping me in a private hospital for a whole year has really affected our financial situation. Plus the fact that my father is out of the picture, my mom did not have a day without stress.” Izuku said firmly, “I want her to live a good life to repay her for being my hero. And also because we are family.”

The silence was almost palpable, with Aizawa no longer having his quirk on and not knowing what to say. Nedzu broke it by praising him softly. “That is a very noble goal, Midoriya. I respect that.”

“Thank you, principal.”

Nedzu gave his papers another once over before deciding to conclude the interview, despite it being much shorter than the usual ones. “Hearing the sincerity in your voice, I feel inclined to believe the words in your application form. As you said in the beginning, actions speak louder than words. Would you mind coming over tomorrow morning, same time, despite it being a Sunday? I would like to carry out a few trials to see if you truly have the skill to back your claims.”

Izuku shook his head. “I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

He stood up from his chair after placing Nekoko down on the ground. The palico gave Aizawa a stink eye before hopping to right beside Izuku’s legs. Nedzu was preparing to reprimand his fellow teacher.

Then his instincts flared.

Keeping a level expression as he turned to Midoriya who had just opened the door to walk out, Nedzu sunk into his chair and went underneath his desk. Aizawa looked at his superior strangely.

“Eraserhead…”

The addressee glanced at Izuku.

“Your quirk when activated, if I’m not wrong, erases the quirks of those you focus on, right…?”

There was something in the kid’s voice Aizawa could not point out. “Yes, I’m surprised you actually know about me-”

“So if your quirk had worked on me, and my friends were erased because of you…”

The hair on the back of his neck rose. That tone of voice…

Was  _ dangerous _ .

**“How would you have taken responsibility?”**

The atmosphere was so thick Aizawa could hardly breathe. Throughout his entire career as an underground hero, he had never faced anyone that could command such an intimidating presence. The kid turned his head slightly to look into Aizawa’s eyes. And Eraserhead was paralyzed.

Then, as quickly as it came, the imposing aura vanished from Midoriya’s body. He said kindly, “Thank you, principal, for taking me seriously and giving me a chance.”

Izuku walked out, footsteps audibly becoming softer with each step as he left the school grounds without an escort. Silence overtook the office once more.

“Well, that could have gone better,” said Nedzu, climbing back to his chair. His smile was more subdued than usual.

Aizawa sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose with a frown. “I made a mistake.”

“That, and a radical misjudgement,” the principal poured himself a cup of tea with a slightly shaking arm. “You should apologize to Midoriya when you get the chance.”

Aizawa huffed, feeling a headache set in. “I guess I really should, huh.”

Looking at the door frame, there were cracks on the spot Midoriya had grabbed on to.

He really hoped that the danger he felt was another application of Izuku’s quirk. He didn’t want to imagine what the kid might have gone through to create such a presence naturally.

What a problem child.

Aizawa Shouta would soon realize the term ‘problem child’ couldn’t quite be used for  _ every  _ kid he knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You won't be calling Izuku 'problem child' for long, Aizawa!
> 
> And tomorrow's trials aren't going to be the last ones, so look forward to it!
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Seething Bazelgeuse: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Seething_Bazelgeuse


	7. Strength, Speed, Intelligence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Number one out of all ao3 monster hunter fics???  
> Sure, it's a crossover with a popular fandom but still!  
> Many thanks to the ones who decided to spend their time reading my work! Your comments and kudos truly bring a smile to my face.
> 
> Unfortunately, uni's started for me, so the updates will probably become less and less consistent since I'm not the best at making a schedule, but I'll try my best to not go silent for too long!
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter that has overtook the word count of the previous chapter.

Early in the morning, the next day, Izuku was making his way to UA to have his skills tested.

He admitted that he may have overreacted a bit when he lost his cool, since he already knew Eraserhead’s quirk wouldn’t work on him. Bioenergy wasn’t a quirk, after all.

But Izuku really didn’t want to recreate his friends and experience the same doubts he had that night.

He stood outside the gate to wait for an escort, kinsects atop his head and palico standing right beside him. Occasionally, there was a passerby or two that glanced at him suspiciously.

His eyes turned when he heard the soft buzzing of a motor coming towards him from the other side of the gates. A little robot with wheels came out to greet him.

“Good morning, Midoriya! Apologies for not being able to fetch you personally, I have my hands full over some paperwork. It  _ is  _ the beginning of the semester.” Nedzu’s enthusiastic voice came out of the speaker hidden inside the robot.

“It’s quite alright, principal,” replied Izuku. “I’ve been waiting here for a while, so can you lead me to where my trials will take place?”

The robot turned its body towards a large facility a distance away. The motor inside whirred slightly louder. “Of course! Follow me.”

After walking a rather far distance while engaging in small talk, both man and robot(and palico and kinsects) made it to a large training facility with a spacious interior. Most likely, there was nothing inside the building because of how different each quirk was and how there was no one way to train them. Perhaps whenever the place was in use, the surroundings could be molded into an appropriate training ground to cater for individual students.

That was what Izuku thought, stepping into the large building.

“Welcome to Gym Gamma!” Nedzu’s voice exclaimed from the robot. “This facility was built with the purpose of allowing students to develop their own techniques to use in many situations, such as the the Hero License Exams and Hero Work Studies.”

Eraserhead and another Pro-Hero could be seen standing in wait as Nedzu continued speaking, “Even so, it’s not unheard of to use Gym Gamma as a large training ground for Heroics classes.”

Hearing the taps every time his feet came in contact with the ground, Izuku was sure the whole place was made of concrete.

_ Cementoss _ , his mind supplied. That hero could manipulate the interior to his wish.

They stepped up right across from Eraserhead and the other hero. Eraserhead had his yellow goggles on and capturing weapon veiling his mouth, so Izuku couldn’t read his expression.

The other hero wore a trench coat-esque cloak that covered their body from the neck down, stopping several inches short of touching the ground. They had prosthetics for legs and their mask combined with exposed teeth made for a fearsome sight.

“You’ve already met Eraserhead, so allow me to introduce you to Ectoplasm! He is also one of UA’s teachers,” stated Nedzu. Izuku and Ectoplasm held eye contact for a few seconds.

Then the hero barked out a laugh. “So you’re the kid Nedzu has his eyes on, huh? I’m expecting big things from you, Midoriya, so I hope you won’t disappoint me today.”

Izuku had an idea of what he was talking about, but turned to the robot for confirmation.

“You might have already guessed it, but we’re here to assess your combat capabilities! You’ll be fighting one of them with your quirk and one quirkless,” Nedzu’s robot speedily wheeled a distance away before its ‘eyes’ seemed to focus on Izuku. “Since you claim that your body was strengthened by your quirk, I assume permanently, it should be fine for you to be matched up against Eraserhead, right? After all, when it comes to quirkless hand-to-hand fighting, he’s the most capable of giving judgement here.”

Izuku nodded, getting into position several meters away across from Eraserhead. Ectoplasm moved to where the robot was to not get in the way. His palico and kinsects did the same.

“Ectoplasm will be fighting you while you go all out, so don’t hold back on either fights, alright?” Nedzu said, to which Izuku responded with a curt nod.

He lowered his body, bending his knees slightly. He widened the position of his legs a bit, shoes scraping against the solid ground audibly. The air surrounding Izuku stilled.

Eraserhead tensed, grasping at his capturing scarf. The kid wasn’t in any stance he knew of, but the way Midoriya was standing positioned his center of mass quite…

Well to put it simply, Aizawa didn’t think he could knock Izuku off his feet if he maintained that stance. So both of them stood waiting, on the defensive.

Then Izuku moved.

He shot forward, almost cracking the ground as he sent a fist at Eraserhead’s face.

Aizawa reacted quickly, tilting his head and dodging the blow that whipped wind at his face. His scarf had unfurled at the same time and it wrapped around Midoriya’s arm-

Izuku pulled back before the cloth could tighten. He twisted his body and sent a roundhouse kick to his opponent, who opted to jump back from the attack. Izuku maintained in the offensive, his face devoid of emotion.

Fighting against someone who relied on brute force but had a small stature was a bit awkward for Aizawa, since he couldn’t quite decide which one of his counters could work against Midoriya. He could  _ not  _ take any of the kid’s attacks at all cost, if the sound of air being pierced was any indication.

But then again, that was a flaw he could expose. Midoriya relied on strength and speed, but not technique. Aizawa was superior in that aspect.

Izuku sent another punch forward, and widened his eyes ever so slightly when Eraserhead moved much faster than the man had previously done. Eraserhead flawlessly redirected the punch before sending one of his own not even half a second later.

Eraserhead’s fist had landed squarely on the side of Izuku’s jaw and if he was another person his age or an untrained adult, his jaw would have definitely been dislocated. But Izuku wasn’t like any other person.

Aizawa had to bite back a curse, because  _ fuck, that hurt! _ Wasn’t he the one attacking? How did Midoriya look so unphased while his fingers felt as if they were another punch away from completely breaking?

Taking advantage of Eraserhead’s momentary surprise, Izuku’s other arm lunged at his opponent’s wrist like a snake, grabbing hold and tightening his grip.

Aizawa was fully convinced the kid was going to snap his wrist in like two seconds, so right after ducking under a powerful haymaker, he went for a pretty unconventional attack.

He jabbed at a spot between Midoriya’s elbow joints with his fingers, and it hit its mark on a certain nerve.

Eraserhead just struck at Izuku’s funny bone. A static shock of sorts ran up his forearm to his pinky finger, followed by a numbing sensation and a dull pain. His grasp loosened slightly and Eraserhead jumped back, hoping to gain some breathing room.

Aizawa gripped at his scarf, deciding to use them after stalling too long for his liking. Midoriya massaged his elbow as he stared at the weapon with an odd amount of intensity. The kid leapt forward on the offensive once more. The capturing weapon flew into action, about to wrap around their target.

Then Izuku dodged.

To describe it in more detail, he jumped into the cloth.

And then he spun a full three-sixty while airborne, the weapon narrowly missing his body as Izuku landed on his feet. He looked as surprised as his spectators, vaguely registering hands clapping from where Nedzu’s robot stood.

“Adept Style is actually possible with this body…” Izuku whispered so quietly even Aizawa couldn’t hear what he had said. But the hero did pick up something.

_ Experimenting techniques in the middle of our fight?!  _ With a few moves, Aizawa’s capture weapon wrapped Midoriya up right before he had snapped out of it.

Izuku shifted to his steadfast stance in an instance right as Eraserhead pulled with all his might. Izuku pulled right back.

Izuku might have been stronger, but Aizawa knew most about how his scarf worked, so they were both stuck in a deadlock.

Then Aizawa’s boots skid across the ground towards Izuku slowly. The boy had been steadily increasing his strength over time, but Aizawa was not fooled. As strong as Izuku was, he had yet to take a breath for his efforts.

Then he did.

And Eraserhead  _ pulled _ .

One of Izuku’s feet left the ground and Eraserhead heaved once more-

The foot  _ stomped  _ on the ground with so much force that it cracked the concrete below it and ruined his shoe. Veins popped on Izuku’s forehead and in his seemingly blank gaze, a predator.

There couldn’t be two predators on the board, could there?

Then it was his turn to pull as if he was _reeling in a Gobul-_

And Eraserhead was in the air.

But he recovered quickly. Aizawa was able to right his body and deliver a roundhouse kick midair, aiming for his opponent’s head.

Izuku raised his arm.

Against all expectations, even as Eraserhead’s shin impacted Izuku’s forearm, he had barely budged. The tip of Eraserhead’s boot was almost touching the side of Izuku’s skull.

Then Midoriya pulled back his other arm and Aizawa could not dodge the devastating punch that came an instant later. His feet finally touched the ground and Aizawa could not help stumbling back several steps, curling in on himself due to the pain on his abdomen.

Realizing his mistake, Aizawa looked up to see a fist flying to his face-

Only to stop half an inch from coming in contact with his nose. If Midoriya was just a step closer, Aizawa’s nose would be broken without a doubt. Chances were, he might have even gotten a concussion.

Izuku pulled back his arm, slowly getting up from his unusually low posture. He exhaled deeply with a tremble in his breath. Eraserhead noticed his shaking limbs, but Izuku spoke before him.

“You really made me go all out, Eraserhead… I’m impressed by your abilities.” He smiled genuinely. “I had to force my body to let go of their mental restrictions on my muscles.”

Aizawa was floored. Was that even possible without a quirk? Could the kid be lying about fighting quirkless? No, wait, don’t judge a book by its cover. It didn’t go well the last time. He pulled down his goggles to reveal the disbelief in his eyes.

Indeed, Izuku was able to truly push the limits of his body with this method that he had adopted from his monster hunting days. As painful as it was, sometimes a burst of strength could go a long way.

“Are you eligible to fight the next round, Midoriya?” Asked Nedzu from the robot. The palico hopped up and spoke as if it was offended on behalf of Izuku.

“Of course meowster can still fight! Barely a minute of combat is nothing for meowster!” Nekoko exclaimed enthusiastically.

Izuku laughed loudly before turning to his spectators with a feral glint in his eyes. “I’m not stopping now.”

No one thought it was possible, but Ectoplasm’s grin seemed to stretch even wider in his excitement. Stepping closer to his soon-to-be opponent, he said, “Now that’s what I like to hear! I won’t be holding back, so I hope you won’t either, Midoriya Izuku!”

Nedzu’s robot and Aizawa backed off an even further distance away, knowing what Ectoplasm was capable of. Nekoko, Nibui and Tachi moved towards Izuku.

Seeing the ruined shoe, Ectoplasm asked, “Would you like to have your shoes replaced? We would be happy to offer our UA brand sneakers with a discount after that impressive display.”

Izuku hummed before removing the shoes from his feet and replied, “How about after I defeat you, I get them free of charge?”

“That…” Ectoplasm readied himself to use his quirk. “Sounds like a deal I can get behind!”

Streams of ectoplasm came pouring out of the hero’s mouth, forming clones of himself. Izuku pulled out two small and round objects from his pocket. Nekoko got down on all fours as his kinsects took flight.

Crushing the might seed and adamant seed between his teeth and swallowing them, Izuku watched as Ectoplasm’s clones surrounded his group.

_ Thirty clones _ , he counted. The original was somewhere in there.

The clones closed in on him right as Izuku lunged at the weak link, the copy that was furthest away from other clones. Nekoko followed right behind him as his kinsects warded off the ones closest to Izuku’s target.

The Ectoplasm swiftly kicked at him but he dodged easily before green slime was secreted from his palms. Izuku smacked the clone’s face with his palm, smearing its face with the slime.

So it seemed Izuku was capable of creating more than just living beings…

The slime turned from green to yellow, then red, and just as the other clones caught up to Izuku, the slime exploded, eliminating that particular clone. The other Ectoplasms paused in surprise.

_ Brachydios slime. _

Izuku turned to face them, green slime leaking from his palms and the soles of his feet. He had that look in his eyes again. Ectoplasm rose up to the challenge.

It was a devastating fight.

Izuku dodged and weaved as the clones were futile in attempting to land a kick on him. Even if they did, Izuku would give no evidence that he was actually hurt as he grabbed the offending limb to coat it in the slime.

Nekoko was even more agile, the clones barely able to act as a blur of a calico cat clawed at their faces. The palico never stayed in one spot for more than a second, always jumping from target to target, regardless of how much damage it had dealt.

If Nekoko was agile, Tachi was pure speed. It zipped all over the place, causing cuts to slowly accumulate on the clones it had its eyes on. Nibui was much slower, but every time it actually collided with an Ectoplasm, the clone would go flying.

But that didn’t mean it was going to be an easy win.

The original was elusive, somehow pumping out more clones discreetly. They never stopped coming and it seemed the hero could keep it up for quite some time since their numbers had yet to actually decrease.

From the sidelines, Aizawa noticed something. “Nedzu.”

The robot turned its head to him. “What is it, Aizawa?”

He pointed to the area above where the battle was taking place. “Do you see the reddish haze above them?”

The robot turned back and seemed to focus on where the man had pointed. Then Nedzu noticed.

“Indeed I do! It seems the camera used on the robot almost couldn’t catch it. I’ll have it upgraded immediately,” said the principal.

“Not the point,” Aizawa said, furrowing his brows. “What do you think it is?”

“Who knows? We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Back to the fighters, Ectoplasm noticed that none of the slime had detonated in a short while. In fact, the slime seemed to have taken on a less bright color. Even the clone that was affected the longest had its slime still unchanged. None of the slime had touched him, though.

“I don’t know how much control you have over your explosive slime, but if you’re planning on detonating all of my clones at once to reach me, you’ve got another thing coming!” He decided to speak up, revealing his position right as he dispelled his quirk.

Except for the clones that had managed to get a firm hold over Izuku’s kinsects.

Ectoplasm threw his head upwards before tilting it down and producing a large amount of ectoplasm that engulfed the kinsects.

_ “Forced Internment Giant Bites!” _

The ectoplasm was molded into a giant clone of the hero himself. Izuku stopped in his tracks before a frown marred his face. Instead of the slime, a viscous and transparent liquid was secreted from one hand and he splashed it onto the slime.

_ Brachydios saliva. _ Combined with the mucus on the floor turned all of it into Brachydios slime that glowed a much brighter green before it transitioned to red and exploded, destroying the concrete ground.

_ So much for that method… _

The giant was unphased, its head lowering and quickly approaching Izuku and his palico. Its jaw unhinged, revealing the darkness of its insides as the Ectoplasm took a bite out of the ground, taking his opponents with it.

Normally, that would spell for the end of the fight, but the look in Midoriya’s eyes as he was consumed by the giant…

He wasn’t out for the count yet.

Ectoplasm finally noticed the red mist in the air around his large clone. He also noticed the glowing yellow slime on its face.

_ Residue? No, a last ditch effort? But what would that little slime do? _

It turned red.

The hero had a really bad feeling in his gut, but was too late to react when it finally went off.

And the air  _ ignited _ .

The red gas surrounding his clone burst into a blindingly bright inferno and Ectoplasm almost fell on his butt from the shockwave. The building shook, but was able to stand strong.

_ Teostra’s explosive powder. _

In his shock, he hadn’t realized the two kinsects had already escaped from his clone’s burning carcass. Tachi was hovering right in front of Ectoplasm’s face, its sharp wings threatening to cut him while Nibui was behind him, its horn almost poking the back of the hero’s head.

Ectoplasm had lost. He was also at a loss of words. It seemed that sentiment was also shared with the spectators.

As the fire died down and the giant was slowly being dispelled, Izuku and Nekoko were finally free. Izuku dusted his clothing, his plans coming back to him.

At first, he had planned to simply give the clones a patch of Brachydios mucus before spraying its saliva in the air to prime them for detonation, but Ectoplasm was an experienced Pro-Hero. It would be an insult to underestimate them.

So Izuku made up a backup plan on the spot. During the fight, his scalp was constantly expelling the explosive powder that could be produced by a Teostra. It would spread to his hair before getting carried into the air. The powder was naturally high in temperature, so it was carried upwards.

Hot air rises, after all.

So Izuku wasn’t concerned about setting off the powder prematurely with the slime.

Probably the only way the first plan would go wrong was if Ectoplasm had dispelled all of his clones at once, which he did. But by doing so, he would be revealing his position. For the hero to risk something like that would mean he was preparing for something.

That something being Ectoplasm’s super move.

Which served as protection for his companions when they were willingly swallowed by it, completely avoiding the blast outside. The giant at that point would have taken enough damage for it to fall, its flesh softening enough for his kinsects to dig through and go for Ectoplasm.

As for how Izuku was able to produce such substances? Well…

It was a discovery made at home, since he had a lot of free time. If bioenergy could create plants and the such, perhaps he could go a step further and create substances that could normally be produced by monsters?

Not only was that experiment a success, he was also able to spend his time answering the questions that had popped up the same day.

To put it in this world’s terms, he could use the emitter parts of a monster’s physiology. Well not entirely, but something like that. A unique substance that could be produced by a monster? Chances were, he could create it.

But breathing fire or ice? That had more to do with the  _ happenings  _ of the monster’s organs to be able to do such a thing. He couldn’t transform his body with bioenergy, after all. Calling lightning from above was out of the question.

Yet, Izuku was unable to create individual monster parts. It was a bit confusing if he looked too deep into it.

So he didn’t.

He stepped up right in front of Ectoplasm and looked him in the eyes.

“You have completely and utterly defeated me, Midoriya,” was all the hero could say. Izuku’s kinsects returned to the top of his head.

He glanced towards the sidelines with a faint smile. “Did I pass the trials?”

Eraserhead looked positively flabbergasted.

Aizawa could swear he heard Nedzu cackling from the robot in his room barely out of the microphone’s range.

Finally, he replied, “Pass? Midoriya, I must give praise, for you have blown my expectations out of the water!”

The robot moved closer to Izuku. “However! This isn’t the only trial you’re facing to become part of UA’s staff. Come around tomorrow and you’ll be tested on something else, but if you keep this up, I have no doubt you’ll be able to join our ranks!”

It turned to Eraserhead. “Now, Aizawa, please lead Midoriya to get his replacement footwear and escort him out.”

Aizawa stiffened slightly. What were the chances this was for the apology…?

He eyed Midoriya to see that the kid was looking somewhere else. The walk was going to be awkward, he could envision it.

As the two left Gym Gamma, there was only Nedzu’s robot and Ectoplasm remaining.

Nedzu finally asked, “Any thoughts?”

There was only curiosity in his tone.

“ … He knew,” said Ectoplasm.

“Hm?”

“The entire fight, he knew.” Ectoplasm turned to look at the robot. “Where I, the original, was.”

Nedzu stayed silent as the hero continued, “Even as I shuffled amongst my clones, I never left his field of vision. If he had commanded the bugs to target me from the start, I would have been helpless.”

He gazed at the doors they had exited. “Even if I knew what he was capable of, I cannot say with certainty that I am able to beat him next time around. It wasn’t just a complete loss. It was an overwhelming defeat for me.”

“ … I see.”

And the facility descended into silence once more.

* * *

Aizawa was right.

It was  _ awkward _ .

Midoriya had already put on his sneakers and was being escorted out of UA. All in silence.

Aizawa took the lead, the kid following right behind him. He had expected a glare to be directed to his back, but he got none of that. From Midoriya, at least. His bipedal cat was practically drilling holes at the back of his head.

Damn! Why was he so apprehensive about this? It was his fault for landing himself in this predicament after all. He had never been so intimidated by a kid before.

Yesterday’s incident flashed in Aizawa’s mind and he thought perhaps that was why he was so hesitant.

That wasn’t just any kid. Midoriya was someone who could immobilize Eraserhead with his presence alone.

But even so, in the end, he had been the one to make the false accusations. Aizawa did not read through his application simply because of Midoriya’s age. As an adult, he should just suck it up and apologize.

Plus the fact that he was punched in the gut by the person he had offended, which should take some of the anger away, right?

He needed to visit Recovery Girl after this…

“Prob-” Aizawa cleared his throat, “Midoriya.”

“Yes?”

It was now or never. “I wanted to apologize for yesterday’s blunder. I should not have acted like I did and should have heard you out. Even if you are younger than our students, it was not justified for me to lash out.”

“I forgive you.”

Aizawa almost tripped at the quick reply.

“It would be petty to not forgive you,” said Midoriya. The kid was behind him, so he couldn’t see his expression. “Besides, you weren’t the only one who overreacted. I should not have made such a scene in the principal’s office.”

They walked in silence for a few more moments before Aizawa replied.

“Thanks.”

The UA gates were only a short distance away. Since it was a Sunday, there were no students.

“You know, you kind of remind me of someone I used to know.” Midoriya spoke up.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow in intrigue. “Used to?”

And now he wanted to clock himself in the face so hard because who lacks that much tact to ask such a question?! There were not many things the term ‘used to know’ could be interpreted as, but clearly in this context it was negative.

A light laugh brought him back to reality as Midoriya overtook him as the lead.

The laugh was full of… mirth. It was light. So light that he almost couldn’t believe it.

“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Eraserhead. It’s natural to be curious.” Midoriya assured him sincerely.

There was no weight in his voice. As if they weren’t talking about a deceased person important to Midoriya. How could someone sound so free from the loss of a loved one?

“After all…” Midoriya turned, making eye contact for the first time since leaving Gym Gamma. Aizawa’s eyes widened, his legs rooted to the ground.

“I’ve already gotten over it.”

And he turned and left through the gates as Aizawa stood there, stunned.

Those eyes… were not the eyes of a child.

The smile that was so soft, the expression that held nothing but hope for tomorrow.

The face that belonged to someone who had experienced the many vicissitudes of life.

“Midoriya Izuku… what happened to you?”

Aizawa Shouta had decided. He wanted to know what led Midoriya to his current choices. He wanted to know why he acted so maturely. He wanted to let the kid live a normal childhood.

Eraserhead was a Pro-Hero, and he’d be damned if he couldn’t act like a real hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aizawa better get prepared to have the tables turned on him. Again.  
> Izuku's like that.
> 
> Don't ask too many questions about his bioenergy because even I don't fully know what it can or can't do.
> 
> Also, was I undermining Ectoplasm a bit too much? He's supposedly one of the strongest among the teachers, but not too much is known about him, so I just kinda winged it.
> 
> See ya next time!
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Brachydios: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Brachydios  
> Teostra: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Teostra


	8. Limits of One's Quirk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another decently long chapter coming through!
> 
> And the number of kudos there... damn! It's almost unbelievable.
> 
> Thank you all for your support! A shame I'll have to slow down because of school, but I won't be stopping, at the very least.

Izuku hummed a tune to himself, writing notes on one of his new notebooks.

Currently, he was in one of many training grounds belonging to UA, watching class 2-A go at it with their quirks in Heroics class. He was also being supervised by Aizawa.

Izuku had decided not to bring his companions this time around.

When he came in this morning to take the next test, principal Nedzu had raised a reasonable point of Izuku needing to familiarize himself to the flow of UA highschool’s methods and schedule.

So right now he was sticking to Aizawa’s homeroom class. The next day he would be assigned to Vlad King to supervise class 1-B’s Heroics class.

The principal had stressed the importance of being able to make a good impression with the students. Considering the fact that Izuku was a few years younger than UA’s freshmen, that would prove to be a challenge.

If he didn’t start by intimidating anyone, that was.

Since it was only the second week since the start of the semester, it was a bit too early for the second years to return to their Work Studies. It was a different story for the third year students, though.

He had come in trailing behind Eraserhead to his homeroom and into the scrutinizing eyes of the twelve students of 2-A. Eraserhead had expelled eight last year.

One of them had straight away asked if Izuku was their teacher’s son, to which Aizawa shot back with the threat of expulsion. He wasn’t serious, but it was still effective in shutting up that student. Izuku laughed loudly at the scene.

Aizawa had introduced him as a teacher assistant in training and nothing else. Izuku had to rely on his own charisma and words to gain respect from Aizawa’s students.

So he had gotten to work.

* * *

A male student raised his arm. “Ectoplasm-sensei?”

The first class after homeroom was math, taught by the one and only Ectoplasm. Since Izuku was given the whole day to build a reputation among the students of 2-A, he became the hero’s temporary assistant.

“Give me a minute, Jun. My attention is currently occupied,” said Ectoplasm, helping out another student. The first student, Jun, put his hand down awkwardly and waited, idly spinning his pen with his fingers.

Then he messed up his movements, sending the pen flying.

Directly into the Izuku’s waiting hands. He walked up to Jun’s table and returned the pen to him after the student had sent out a stream of apologies.

“Jun Muchito?” Izuku asked, wanting to confirm that he had memorized the student files given to him barely an hour ago. The student nodded slowly, puzzled at why this boy had come up to his table.

Izuku smiled kindly. “Let me help you with that.”

And despite his age, he was able to provide guidance, much to Jun’s surprise. Izuku had spent most of his free time studying today’s topic with complete focus, being able to memorize the formulas and understanding how and when it was used.

Being used to guiding youngsters that have trouble comprehending certain principles of their subjects, Izuku was able to break down his knowledge to many parts as he slowly taught the student, who had snapped out of their astonishment and started listening intently.

Izuku was like a second teacher who was also everyone’s friend. His aura of maturity also carried a warm intent that even the more stubborn students eventually came around and asked him for tips.

Most likely, the most difficult students were expelled by Aizawa and the remaining ones had learned over time not to act like their former classmates, lest they share the same fate.

By the end of the class, Izuku definitely had Ectoplasm’s favor. And perhaps, with time, just a bit of the other teachers’ too.

* * *

So Izuku sat in this building, large screens displaying the students’ progress in front of him as his pen flew across the pages of his notebook. A Heroics teacher was out in the field watching over the students in case of an accident. Izuku and Aizawa were viewing the class while indoors.

Aizawa kept shooting glances at Izuku, who seemed completely immersed in his notetaking. He was 75% sure Izuku was aware of that.

Feeling a little curious about what the kid was so focused on, he decided to speak up, “What’s got your attention that you haven’t looked up to the screens once?”

“Notes,” Izuku said simply, not even bothering to raise his head. Aizawa was more curious than offended.

So he not-so-subtly walked towards Izuku with the intention to steal a glance at his notes. Leaning back his head slightly, he caught sight of a very detailed drawing of a strange creature.

No eyes. Black scales. Rubbery hide. Violet horns. Two pairs of legs and one pair of arm-like wings of jet-black fur. Shrouded in a black mist that promised pain to every living thing that drew close-

Aizawa was brought back to reality by the sound of Izuku’s pen tapping on the page with a thoughtful face. That drawing wasn’t just detailed. He looked at the name the creature was given by Izuku.

**_Black Eclipse Wyvern, Gore Magala._ **

It was so lifelike that Aizawa felt as if he was right there with it, with the aura of death hanging over the air. How was it possible to create such realistic art that could affect one so?

If Izuku could hear his thoughts, he would answer:

_ Dance with death and draw life to your experience. _

To fight with your life on the line and returning alive to immortalize your experience through art.

Izuku had to momentarily relive the battle in his memories as he drew. Instead of hero analysis, his new notebooks were being used as bestiaries for the monsters from his previous life. Bless his photographic memory.

“ … You’re skipping your duties in favor of drawing?” Aizawa said slowly. Did Midoriya think the viewing was just for safety? There are many things to learn from the individual students themselves, like their progress with their quirks, their relationship with fellow classmates or even their general well-being from a glance.

Did Midoriya think all he needed to do was befriend the students?

“Today’s current Heroics class activity is a six versus six capture the flag game with quirks added into the fray,” Izuku spoke up suddenly, his eyes never leaving the page. “Tables one, four, five, six, ten and eleven are in one group, while tables two, three, seven, eight, nine and twelve are in the other group.”

Words graced the surface of the paper once more, Izuku having pulled out additional information from his memories as he continued with the conversation’s topic. “Students four, five, six, ten and eleven have close relations with each other, acting more as student one’s acquaintance than close friend. I have reason to believe student one has a friendly rivalry with student twelve. Similar to the first group of friends, students two, three, seven and eight are quite close to each other. I wouldn’t call student nine an outcast, but he doesn’t share a tight bond with anyone in his class. He’s a bit antisocial.”

Izuku’s eyes softened. Student nine… that was Jun. “Students nine and two have trouble working together, likely because of…”

His eyes flitted across the screens, taking focus on one scene to the next, before stopping on a conversation between two particular students. One of them was Jun, and the other was a girl that was usually soft-spoken, yet both of them were currently quite flustered with each other’s presence.

The corners of Izuku’s lips curved upwards in amusement. “Mutual romantic interest with each other.”

Aizawa listened silently, very much impressed by his observations. He quashed any concern from his facial expression.

But he was still curious about something.

“Do you draw as a hobby?” He asked. Izuku stopped his hand in its tracks and seemed to ponder.

“Sometimes, but there’s another reason for these notes,” said Izuku, closing the book and pushing a thumb between the cover page and first page. “I suppose you can see them as quirk analysis notes. I have many more notebooks at home that I plan to expand.”

Aizawa furrowed his brows in confusion. Quirk analysis? What kind of quirk involves those hideous creatures? They looked more like the illustrations of a child’s overactive imagination.

Then it hit him. Midoriya’s quirk… allowed him to create living beings. He had never stated what was the limit to it. If he could create a bipedal cat and two giant and exotic-looking bugs with intelligence, then perhaps the only limit was his imagination.

Aizawa broke out in cold sweat and found himself staring into glowing sapphire eyes. There was a smile on Izuku’s face.

“Eraserhead… no, Aizawa. It seems you’ve figured it out,” he said, tilting his head ever so slowly. Izuku’s thumb pushed into the edge of the book, and the pages flipped rapidly.

“My quirk can theoretically create all of these monsters.”

_ Monsters. _

Aizawa could see glimpses of a few detailed drawings, but each consequent one made his blood run colder. There would be a creature and several pages worth of notes. And Midoriya had other notebooks?

The pages stopped flipping, and Aizawa was looking at the horrific form of the  _ Gore Magala  _ once more. The corners of his vision seemed to darken.

Was it possible that Midoriya could have an army in his beck and call and nobody would know? How can a quirk like this exist? His erasure… didn’t work on the creatures that had already been created.

Only Midoriya himself knew the limits of his own quirk. What-

If All Might’s quirk could exist, then who’s to say there isn’t a stronger quirk? What-

Midoriya was only twelve yet he acted nothing like it. What-

What were the limits of a quirk that could conquer Japan?

Aizawa’s thoughts came to a halt with a jolt. Darkness surrounded him.

All he could see was two bewitching blue lights piercing through the void and consequently through his soul. The monster on the page was trying to escape-

No- don’t **-**

D **o** n’ **t** LE **T** I **T ESCAPE-**

The blue lights darted to the side, its pressuring aura directed somewhere else. Light returned to Aizawa’s surroundings. The monster was still there, static on the page. It wasn’t about to escape and attack his students. The lights were just Midoriya’s eyes, which were now staring at something happening in one of the screens.

Aizawa registered someone calling his name.

_ “Aizawa!”  _ The Heroics teacher yelled with urgency from the other end of Aizawa’s earpiece.  _ “There’s been an accident on the field. I request your presence.” _

He cursed under his breath. Of all the times to get distracted…

“Let me follow you.” He almost jumped when he heard Izuku speak right beside him.

Considering his options, Aizawa decided there was no harm for Midoriya to follow him.

Soon, they made it to where the accident happened and were greeted with a painful sight. A male student, table number four, was crouched down and spewing apologies nonstop at student nine, Jun. Besides Jun was the girl, student two, who was fussing over his injury but didn’t quite know where to place her hands.

Jun’s entire arm looked absolutely terrible. Broken fingers, dislocated elbow  _ and  _ shoulder, a shade of purple taking over his hand. Izuku had to give credit to the kid for not crying out in pain and instead opting to hiss agonizingly.

Their Heroics teacher, a retired Pro-Hero, walked up to the newcomers. Aizawa frowned.

“Why are you not sending him straight to Recovery Girl?” He asked. The old man simply shook his head in response.

“He was insistent in continuing the lesson, so I’ve contacted Recovery Girl to come here instead. Fortunately she acquiesced,” he said. 

Aizawa sighed in acceptance and gazed at Jun with eyes of thinly veiled worry. Then he saw Izuku approach Jun with calm strides. Aizawa stopped him by clutching his shoulder.

“Midoriya, what do you think you’re doing?” Aizawa asked, narrowing his eyes. Did Midoriya have medical experience? The impassive look on his face seemed to imply that.

Izuku turned to face his supervisor. “Aizawa, your student is in pain. I can heal him, if you’ll allow me.”

Looking at his student practically writhing with pain a short distance from him, Aizawa hesitated. Midoriya had done a good job befriending the students, but how much did he trust him?

“Aizawa,” the other teacher called out to him. “I will allow it.”

They maintained eye contact for a few seconds.

Until Aizawa conceded, pulling his arm back with a sigh. He needed to remember that Midoriya was no mere child. He was mature for his age and seemed to always know what he was doing at all times.

And Midoriya’s motives… he believed that, at least. Izuku was a son wanting to provide for his mother. If Nedzu trusted his words, then how could Aizawa get closer to him without also offering his own trust?

“Oh, can I have your knife?”

“What.”

Aizawa stared at Izuku’s outstretched arm.

“You have a knife on you, right? Can you lend it to me?”

Looking at Izuku’s unperturbed face, he conceded once more, handing over the large knife he carried in his hero costume at all times. Hopefully he wouldn’t regret his decision.

Izuku moved forward, gesturing students two and four to stand back. They obeyed reluctantly, curious about how Izuku would go about healing their classmate. Every time someone had asked about his quirk, he would claim that it was a secret.

Now the secret would be revealed. But first…

“Jun, I’m going to relocate your elbow and shoulder to be on the safe side. Do you trust me?” Izuku questioned, hands hovering just shy of touching the student’s injured arm, knife on the ground. There was a certain gentleness in his tone of voice. Along with his firm expression, Jun couldn’t help but put his trust in the kid that had approached him with the intent of helping out with his math.

“Thank you,” Izuku said softly, his demeanor shifting all of a sudden. It almost gave the spectators whiplash. For Jun however, the only difference he felt was more reassurance. It felt as if Izuku’s calmness was radiating off of his form, slowing his own heart rate.

As a monster hunter, there was more to it than just slaying monsters. Sometimes, one might need to comfort the victims of monster attacks. Let’s just say he got pretty good at projecting his emotions towards people who needed it.

Izuku waited for Jun to stabilize his erratic breathing before laying his hands on the arm tenderly. “Try to bite down instead of screaming.”

Jun gave him an inquisitive stare. “Bite down on wha-”

Izuku pulled.

_ Pop! Pop! _

He somehow managed to relocate both joints at once. In the next instance, his hand shot to Jun’s mouth, which started to bite down with impressive force.

There was a collective wince from the audience as the side of Izuku’s hand went in between the student’s teeth. There were also a few students that had inhaled sharply through their teeth, making hissing sounds. The two teachers had to stop themselves from interrupting the ‘procedure’.

Izuku didn’t even flinch and paid the spectators no heed. His eyes glowed with the use of bioenergy and blue lights were produced from his free hand. An image came to his mind and the bioenergy did the work.

Materializing right beside him was a yellow wasp of sorts flying in place, its legs holding on to a squishy green ball. Taking a closer look at the ball would reveal that its exterior was a membrane of some sort holding in a green liquid.

_ Vigorwasp. _

Its size rivaled that of the largest hornet species on Earth, at about two inches in length, but this one was still much smaller than the wasps found in the New World. The sac that contained the vitality nectar was about the size of a tennis ball.

The vigorwasp flew a bit closer to Izuku as he picked the knife up from the ground. With practiced ease, the knife made an incision across the membrane of the sac. It was so precise that only the very tip of the blade did the work. Vitality nectar poured out, washing over the injured hand.

Jun’s hand twitched momentarily before it started healing at a visible rate. The purple was fading back to a more healthy color, any bleeding was halted immediately and his broken fingers slowly straightened themselves, producing low sounds as they popped back in place.

Izuku pulled his bitten hand back, glancing at the bite mark that didn’t penetrate skin. Jun wiped the tears from his eyes and clenched his fist experimentally, surprised at the lack of pain. There was only a dull ache in his joints.

“Sorry for popping your joints back in place first instead of using the vigorwasp to heal your injuries completely. There were some safety measures I wanted to take,” said Izuku, catching his attention.

Vitality nectar and potions fixed dislocated limbs a bit too slowly for it to be painless.

“N-no, it’s fine. I’ve been through worse,” Jun replied. Izuku’s expression soured slightly at that statement. “Thank you for healing me.”

Izuku nodded mutely, grabbing the wasp before it could fly away. It could probably make for a good kinsect snack. There were some exclamations of awe, looking at their classmate’s broken arm heal as quick as if Recovery Girl was the one doing the treatment.

After getting a look of approval and a clap on the shoulder from their Heroics teacher, class continued normally. Recovery Girl had arrived shortly afterwards and Izuku spoke with her about his method of treatment. After promising to give a sample of vitality nectar another day, she left without a fuss.

By the end of the day, the students had said their goodbyes to both their homeroom teacher and their new friend.

“Midoriya,” Aizawa addressed Izuku, pulling out a few sheets of paper from his desk drawer stapled together by the upper left corner. “I hope you’re not planning on going home so soon. You have to fill this in today. It contains questions about the students of my class. The answers will be checked by me and confirmed by the students themselves.”

Izuku took the papers given to him and skimmed through the questions curiously. After briefly inspecting the last page, he looked up at Aizawa with a confident smile.

“Got a pen I could borrow?”

* * *

“Midoriya, are you in a hurry to return home?”

Izuku turned his head, seeing the principal himself walk up to him. “Not in particular, no. Why?”

“Will you accompany me in this walk down the hallway?” Nedzu asked with his usual bright attitude. Izuku, seeing no harm in it, decided to agree.

So both mammal and boy walked through the corridors of UA, engaging in small talk.

“Usually I’m not one to rat people out on their secrets but I feel that you should know this,” Nedzu began with mirth in his eyes. “Believe it or not, Aizawa was the one who requested I put you in his class. I cannot say the reason, but it would seem that he has an interest in you.”

Izuku chuckled lightly, not at all worried. “If that’s true, then I believe I’m in good hands to be honest. I hope to become his friend soon.”

Besides, he had already gotten a read on Aizawa during Heroics class. Although… he might have been a bit too forward. The teacher had that look in his eyes, suggesting that Izuku had gone a  _ little  _ too far.

The principal hummed in response before saying, “I wish you luck on your endeavors, for it can be quite difficult to get close with him. But once you do, I believe it will do good for both of you.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Nedzu made a turn in their walk. Izuku noticed, but didn’t comment.

“Now, there was this statement you made in your application I find interesting. Something about protecting the students until they were ready to leave their nests? And along with the rest of your words, frankly, I find that inspiring.” Nedzu gave genuine praise to the slightly embarrassed Izuku.

“Ah… I was just speaking from my heart,” he said, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

There it was.

Moments where Izuku acted more like his age. Nedzu’s smile widened by a fraction as he looked at the Izuku from the corner of his vision.

He continued, putting focus on the current topic. “It’s refreshing to see such passionate claims from the younger generation. Though I must wonder, you are only one person, Midoriya. You are strong, yes, but do you truly believe you are capable enough to carry that responsibility? UA is a very prestigious highschool, after all.”

There was a glint in his eyes that Izuku did not miss. Nedzu was hinting at something.

The monster hunter in him surfaced once more. “It’s understandable that you’ve raised these questions.”

The walk ended, both of them somehow ending up right outside the main building from another exit. In front of Izuku was an outdoor training ground.

The principal was asking for a demonstration.

“If there’s one thing that you’re most likely to be curious about, it would be my quirk… and its  _ limits _ .”

He walked forward as Nedzu stood in place in anticipation. Bioenergy surged outwards from Izuku’s body.

“You know that my quirk can permanently strengthen my body along with my immune system. You know that I can go several days without sleeping or eating…”

The bright lights congregated in front of him as it kept growing larger with every step he took.

“Creating living organisms… we both know how impossible it sounds, even in this world. Having a quirk that can create an army under my command from thin air… would you believe it?”

Izuku stopped in his tracks, looking directly at the enlarging gathering of bioenergy. It bore resemblance to a fulgurbug infestation, those insects being able to glow with a similar brilliance to the sight in front of him.

“I can do so much, and nothing short of All Might can stop me. Perhaps at one point, even he would be helpless to my power.”

He turned his whole body around, looking directly into the principal’s unreadable gaze.

“But I will do none of that. I want to use my quirk for good. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again.”

The brightness surged once more and it reached its peak. The bioenergy shone in such a brilliant resplendence that Nedzu had to close his eyes to avoid being temporarily blinded. When he opened them once more… they widened noticeably.

“I will be the guide that will help the younger generation find their path to be their own type of hero. I will watch over them until the day they are prepared to leave the safety of their nests. I will be… their pillar.”

Behind Izuku was a monster. Not just any monster, but one that will eventually grow up to become stronger than perhaps all heroes, with very few exceptions.

The bioenergy dispersed, and in its place stood a creature of an ape-like stature. It had black fur all over its body and a rather short tail with a furred tip. Its entire body was muscular in nature, the broadness of its arms putting All Might’s own muscles to shame. Its head was nothing like an ape’s, as it had a visibly protruding snout with large lower canines. Perhaps its most defining feature was its large horns jutting out from the sides of its head.

_ Rajang. _

A young one, at that. The top of Izuku’s head was just shy of touching the underside of its snout. Yet the Rajang could grow much larger. With Izuku’s current control over his bioenergy, the Rajang he had created was much weaker than the typical ones out in the field that were classified as High-Rank threats.

But with time, this Rajang might one day be able to stand toe to toe with the number one hero himself.

“I hope you will entrust me to this responsibility when the time comes.”

The Rajang’s face bore a ferocious expression that promised pain… to whoever that hurt its creator. Without a doubt, it looked fearsome. Nedzu would admit to that.

But looking at Izuku’s eyes that were nothing but sincere, how could Nedzu say no?

The smile found its way back to his face. Midoriya Izuku… had the heart of a hero.

Nedzu shook his head with a fond look. “Midoriya, Midoriya. You’ve yet to complete all of the tests and yet you’re already talking big?”

Izuku grinned childishly. “Call it overconfidence, but I’m quite sure I’ll get the position.”

They discussed where the Rajang would be staying for now, and settled for the forest in UA’s property. Since it could live off bioenergy alone, there wouldn’t be too much to worry about.

As Izuku left from the main entrance with a wave of farewell, Nedzu couldn’t help but wonder.

Midoriya Izuku was an enigma that he was eager to puzzle together… but perhaps he shouldn’t rush things.

It was a bit out of character, but Nedzu decided to be patient. He was in no rush to decipher the boy that was Midoriya. Previously, he had often played mind games with others for his own benefit.

Now? He would play a game of trust with Izuku.

The future of UA… would be in good hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Izuku keeps intimidating other people like that, it won't be as cool anymore... one day.
> 
> Guess I'll have to tone it down a lil bit. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> No, Jun does not have One for All. He's just a minor character that might make appearances every now and then, but other than that he carries no major importance.
> 
> Look forward to the next chapter.
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Vigorwasp: https://monsterhunterworld.wiki.fextralife.com/Vigorwasp  
> Rajang: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Rajang


	9. Turning Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, sorry for the delay. Some topics of conversation are pretty difficult to write.
> 
> I'd say the next chapter should be released much faster than this one.
> 
> Regardless, I hope this long chapter was worth the wait.

The last day of Izuku’s trials for applying for staff. He was with Vlad King this time around, observing class 1-B. As first years, they’re bound to be more chaotic and disrespectful compared to the senior classes.

This would prove to be a step up from yesterday’s test.

While all of this was going on, Aizawa had asked for a substitute for homeroom, as there was something he wanted to do. Nedzu had agreed a bit too easily, but he had learned to not question it anymore.

So early in the morning, Aizawa had left for his destination without meeting Izuku for the day, since he was in Vlad King’s homeroom class.

Where was Aizawa going that was so important he skipped homeroom?

His fist rapped on the wooden door of an ordinary apartment complex. It opened after a few seconds of waiting to reveal a rather short and plump woman with hair a familiar shade of green.

This was it. “Are you Mrs. Midoriya?”

* * *

The teapot clinked against the small plate that held it as Midoriya Inko put down the tea tray on the living room table.

“I apologize again for taking up your time,” said Aizawa as Inko poured tea into two cups.

“It’s quite alright, Mr. Aizawa. I’m happy to see that my son has gotten the attention of a Pro-Hero,” she replied, lifting up her own cup. “Although I’d like to think it was only a matter of time.”

She wasn’t wrong. Ectoplasm especially seemed to regard Midoriya as an equal already. Aizawa lifted the other cup before speaking, “Considering Midoriya’s abilities, you’re not wrong. His mannerisms, too. Your son is very mature for his age.”

Her lips curled into a soft smile. “He really is…”

He gazed at her expression with critical eyes through the steam of his cup of tea. He took a sip the same time she did.

“So… are you here to ask about him?” Inko asked curiously. Aizawa nodded slowly.

“I want to know more about his home life before the… incident.” He was referring to the year-long coma, which she could easily pick up on.

Clearly Izuku must have picked up his eccentric personality from somewhere, and Aizawa didn’t think it was all from Mrs. Midoriya. His father was out of the picture, but the hero was not privy to the details why.

There must have been a reason for Izuku growing up so quickly and not acting like other kids his age. He had even believed that it was perhaps something to do with his parents, but he quickly cut off that line of thought the moment it formed.

Izuku truly loved his mother. That much was a fact. It would not paint a good picture for Aizawa if he claimed that they had a bad relationship with one another. His father was the unprecedented factor here, but Aizawa didn’t want to jump into conclusions again.

A somber expression found its way to her face and Inko was put deep in thought. Memories of her son coming home with bruises he would brush off as being clumsy. The occasional fake smiles she would be able to catch on some days. Izuku had not lived the best life, and Inko hated that she wasn’t able to change that.

But ever since _that_ day, things had become… better, to put it simply. Things had changed, and were still changing. Izuku’s awakening was an unexpected development for everyone, but it was that unexpected development that led to an astonishing fact that none could have predicted.

The rise of quirks was a testament that not everything could be explained through scientific means. The reveal of Izuku’s other life was what finally changed her worldview.

But Aizawa was someone who stuck to logic and facts, so something like this had never crossed his mind.

“Back then… Izuku was never the most social boy,” said Inko, looking down into her teacup. “He didn’t have many friends, and he was very secretive about his school life.”

_‘Don’t worry about it, mom. I just tripped over my shoelaces in school.’_

“He had constantly come home with cuts and bruises on his skin after school, but he would keep smiling as to not worry me. But how could I not? I’m his mother after all. Yet all this time I had given him the benefit of the doubt and never pushed it.”

_‘It was just an accident! The school nurse said that the cut will heal by tomorrow.’_

“Izuku… always had a kind heart. Even after being diagnosed as quirkless, his desire to help people did not diminish in the slightest. I won’t lie, after that day I believed my son to be fragile simply because of his lack of a quirk. But it seemed that my worries were pointed in the wrong direction.”

_‘M-mom! It’s not what it looks like! K-Kacchan didn’t mean to-’_

A handprint seared onto skin.

“He wanted to be a hero more than anything, and I wasn’t there for him when he needed the support most.”

_‘Wait, please! H-he really didn’t do it on purpose! I- we don’t need to go to aunty’s house to-’_

An explosion right beside them. That building would never be the same again.

“Even now, after the incident, I still feel conflict in my heart. Now that he has a quirk, I’m not sure if I can confidently say he could become a hero without one. He was the one who told me that it was natural for a mother to worry for their child, and that he understood, but…” _What if Izuku didn’t have memories of his other life?_

_‘Mom, watch out!’_

A collapsing building and flying debris. She had been shoved out of the way by a small body.

Inko shook the thoughts out of her head. “Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say here is that Izuku did not have the best childhood, and I will always regret not being able to give him one. Even now, after everything, I will still try my best for him, even if he no longer needs his mother’s help.”

Aizawa listened to her talk, face unchanging save for a few raising of eyebrows. There was no hint of deceit in Mrs. Midoriya’s voice that he could detect. But there were more questions than answers.

“What changed?” He asked before taking his first sip of his tea.

Inko looked up from her cup with a near indiscernible smile. “He woke up from his coma.”

The year-long coma. It’s always the coma. How could someone have made such a drastic change in personality after simply returning back into consciousness? Was that truly the pivotal moment that led to this chain of events that involved UA highschool?

“Can you elaborate?” Aizawa pressed the matter a little more. No matter how much he thought about it, it just didn’t make sense in his eyes.

And clearly, Inko had noticed that. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly before her expression softened. “That… is not my secret to tell, Mr. Aizawa.”

Not her secret… so it was the kid who was hiding something. Inko did not lie, he was sure of that much.

“Maybe if Izuku trusts you enough, he will tell you. It’s only a matter of time, after all,” she said wistfully, finishing her cup of tea. Aizawa did the same a short while after.

“Thank you for your time, Mrs. Midoriya, you were a good host” Aizawa bid his farewell after being escorted out.

“Of course. Come visit anytime, Mr. Aizawa!” She called out behind him. The hero left with unanswered questions, yet he felt content.

He made it back to UA before long. Walking down the hallway to the teacher’s lounge, he spotted Midoriya going the opposite direction as if he came from Aizawa’s destination. He offered a short greeting, “Morning.”

But Izuku did not reply, simply giving a stiff nod with an impassive face as they passed each other. Aizawa almost halted in his tracks. That was strange.

Opening the door to the teacher’s lounge, he was greeted with the sight of Vlad King with a sour expression on his face as the man skimmed through the contents of a particular document. Nedzu was right by him with his usual smile, also looking at the paper. The other teachers were not present, busy teaching their respective classes.

Vlad King caught sight of the underground hero and perked up slightly, frown still present. They made eye contact for a few moments before Sekijiro let out a troubled sigh. “I would joke that Midoriya was influenced by you if the matter wasn’t so serious.”

“What matter?” Aizawa inquired as he moved towards the coffee machine. The tea was good, but he was used to being in the constant presence of coffee.

“I failed to see that one of my students did not join the hero course with good intent,” he said gruffly with a slight tone of somberness. “It took over a week and also Midoriya joining our class to finally give the student a deserved expulsion.”

Was that the reason why Izuku wasn’t in a very good mood just then? Aizawa slowly brewed himself a cup of coffee as he conversed, “So the kid pointed out a couple of things to you and you took action?”

Sekijiro let out a huff and wore a self-deprecating smile. “He didn’t just point out a couple of things… he was also the one who managed to fish out the evidence from the student and initiated the expulsion with Nedzu’s permission.”

Aizawa’s brows shot up in incredulity as he turned to stare at the principal. “You gave a newbie permission to expel a student?”

“I thought it was a sensible decision after hearing Midoriya speak his thoughts. So I allowed it just this once,” said Nedzu, walking up to another table to pick up a remote. “Would you like to watch the footage?”

Of course he had recorded it. Aizawa was hesitant for only half a second before deciding he was better off watching it. “Fine.”

A screen popped up from a wall and both teachers were inwardly questioning the budget of the school. Nedzu didn’t comment as the footage started running.

The camera was viewing from the end of the room, showing the door, the student’s face and the back of Vlad King’s head as he sat on a chair. What showed was the student speaking out his woes with a pained expression as if he had been wronged a hundred times over.

“Kan-sensei, please forgive me, I know my faults! I should not have gone too far, just like you said. This entire incident was my doing and I acknowledge that, but please give me another chance!” The student pleaded, on the brink of tears.

Even without the camera showing Sekijiro’s face, he was clearly troubled with the situation. He seemed to be about to say something, but a firm three knocks on the door caught his attention.

“Just a moment,” said the teacher, getting up to open the door so slightly that the camera view could not reveal who was outside.

There was some muffled conversation with Vlad King and the mystery person. The student’s face shifted from saddened to complete boredom with a barely suppressed smile. Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the scene.

In the screen, Sekijiro appeared to concede to something, letting Midoriya into the room before he left. Aizawa almost exclaimed in surprise.

* * *

“Nakamura Hido?” Izuku said the student’s name, prompting him to shift his expression to one of despair.

“You are Vlad King’s assistant, right? Please tell him to give me a chance! I really didn’t mean to hurt my classmate so badly!” He said pitifully, watching Izuku take a seat on the empty chair. 

“Nakamura, why do you want to be a hero?” He asked firmly, slightly surprising the student across from him.

The words he had rehearsed before came to Hido and he spoke up with determination. “I want to help people by defeating villains. Of course, the civilians come first but sometimes it may be better to get rid of the root of the problem first.”

Izuku nodded with a smile. “Not a bad perspective. Some heroes only go pro just for money and the likes, and while that’s not exactly bad, not many can honestly say that they are selfless enough to risk their lives for others.”

Something flashed through Hido’s eyes and he let out a triumphant grin. “You get me, Mr. Assistant! UA is a school, and a school is a place for learning, so please let me learn about how to hold back from causing this accident again.”

He could already see himself being let off with a mild slap on the wrist. Hido would then control himself for the next three years to prevent something as major as this happening.

He would try. No promises.

But with an impressive quirk like his, the school is bound to let him off again and again until he gets his hero license. And with that license, he could-

“I wonder how long it took you to generate such a simple answer?” Mused Izuku, not even looking at the student. Hido’s smile dropped.

“What… do you mean, mister?” He asked slowly.

“Not only did you continue attacking an already downed classmate, you also dared to lie to your superiors.” Izuku turned to him with a gaze of pity that Hido would most definitely pick up on. “Why shouldn’t I expel you with those two offenses?”

“I… I’m not lying. I really want to be a hero so that I can save other people and fight villains.” A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

“Ah… I guess that statement wasn’t entirely a lie. What you really want to do is something along the lines of fighting villains, right? You don’t want to save anyone,” said Izuku, his voice containing a trace of mockery.

Hido’s brows were knitted together and he clutched at the arm of his chair tighter. “Please don’t put words in my mouth, mister.”

“The money’s also quite appealing, isn’t it? Beating up villains for cash. You get to have the civilians’ favor while at the same time flaunt your quirk. Everyone has a bit of greed in them. In my opinion, you have a bit too much to be actually called a hero.”

Hido’s face contorted in anger and he gritted out, “Stop acting as if you know me, kid! As long as I can stop villains from killing other people, no one will have a problem with me! What do you know about being a hero?!”

Izuku barely reacted at the outburst, choosing to look straight into the student’s eyes. Finally, he asked, “Do you want to be a hero?”

Hido looked at him blankly for a moment.

Then a twisted grin formed on his face.

“More than anything.”

The staring contest lasted another five seconds before Izuku broke the silence. “Why are you smiling like that?”

Wide eyes, bared teeth and a savage posture. His look was filled with frenzied mania.

“Your eyes are manic, and show your desire for violence. You bore the same expression as you ruthlessly attacked your already downed opponent. Nakamura Hido… with your desire to get a hero license just so you can use your quirk on others, UA will not accept you.”

Those words were like a gavel hitting on the judge’s block for Hido. Countless emotions surged in his heart, his face twisting without stop.

Izuku shook his head in disappointment. He could remember encountering a fellow hunter with such a bloodthirsty face before. He was the one who put the man into justice.

He was also the one who realized this type of individuals were a lost cause.

“You know, you remind me of a former friend yet at the same time you two are completely different. You may bear some similarities when angry, but at the very least, he can actually change for the better.” Izuku believed that Bakugou could indeed be a hero. He just needed a reality check. Make that several reality checks.

“You think just because you’re in UA you can say anything you want…?” Hido said, voice low, raising himself from his seat. “You’re just some brat…”

Izuku frowned, “My name is-”

The student shot up, about to flare his quirk and attack the kid in front of him-

**“Sit down.”**

And his surroundings darkened. Behind Izuku was something… massive. As a wave of vertigo hit and forced him to drop back to his seat, he could’ve sworn he saw a figure… no.

A silhouette of a Black Dragon.

Hido’s vision returned, and he was suddenly aware of how much he was shaking.

“My name is Midoriya. You will address me with mister or sensei, but since you’re expelled, don’t use the latter.” Izuku said plainly, eyes drifting to behind the student.

“You… you…” Hido sputtered, unable to formulate proper words.

“I, I, what?” Izuku replied sternly. “Don’t have the authority to expel you? Well I’m quite sure the principal does.”

The door to the room opened to reveal Vlad King with Nedzu himself sitting on the hero’s shoulder.

“Indeed I do! Seeing that Midoriya had done such a thorough job at exposing you, Nakamura Hido, you are hereby expelled from UA highschool and subsequently barred from entering any hero school in the country!” The principal said with such a happy tone that the student didn’t know how to react.

“Get up and pack your things. I’ll see you out,” said Sekijiro. Hido could only wordlessly comply.

* * *

The final bell rang, and that marked the end of school. A number of teachers were able to find time for themselves to attend a sudden meeting in the teacher’s lounge.

Both Nedzu and Izuku were present for the occasion.

Izuku scanned the crowd to see that only the Pro-Heroes among the teachers had time to spare for the day. Inquisitive looks were pointed at him, but he didn’t comment.

“Now!” Nedzu clapped his paws, bringing everyone’s attention. “Since everyone available is now here, let’s start! Now I know I called for a meeting, but this is more of an announcement.”

He gestured to Izuku who sat next to him. “This here is Midoriya Izuku! I’m sure some of you have seen him but have yet to interact with him. Believe it or not, this is the newest addition to UA’s staff!”

The reactions were instantaneous. Exclamations were thrown around. The more reserved of the teachers were visibly surprised.

“I doubt this decision was made on a whim, so he must have impressed you enough for you to consider hiring him. Ain’t that right principal?” Said Snipe, tilting his hat slightly upwards.

“That is correct. Midoriya has no fixed role in UA, but I am confident that he can carry his own weight, despite his age,” replied Nedzu. The crowd seemed to have calmed down.

“Even so, the boy is young. There are some things that can only be dealt with by adults. How are you so sure that Midoriya can make the right decisions?” Hound Dog asked gruffly with sharp eyes.

Izuku chimed in all of a sudden, interrupting what Nedzu was going to say. “Actions speak louder than words, Hound Dog. If you are concerned about me, then allow me to prove to you over time that I can handle the responsibility.”

They stared at each other, Inui’s intense scrutiny meeting Izuku’s calm gaze.

Then out of nowhere, Midnight appeared right beside Izuku before pulling him into a tight hug, his head being squashed between her chest and arms. “So this cutie’s name is Midoriya? Well nice to finally know you! I saw you a few times but I could never find time to talk to you! So it turns out you wanted to be a teacher, huh? I can help with that!”

Sounds of palms meeting faces could be heard in the room from a few individuals.

“Midnight, you’re seducing an underage boy,” stated Izuku, his deadpanned voice muffled but loud enough to be heard by everyone. Roars of laughter filled the teacher’s lounge. Hound Dog shook his head in acceptance and amusement.

The atmosphere lightened up, making way for conversation. The announcement turned into an impromptu welcoming party of sorts.

But there was one person missing.

Izuku tapped on Nedzu’s shoulder, getting his attention. “I’m leaving for a bit to look for someone.”

The principal nodded with a smile, having already swept through the crowd and identifying the missing teacher. Izuku left the teacher’s lounge quickly and silently, unnoticed by the chatting heroes.

_Let’s take a wild guess on where he is…_

Izuku took the lift to get to UA’s top floor. He walked around to see if the school had one of those…

He walked up a flight of stairs leading to a metal door. Sunlight poured in the moment he opened it.

“I didn’t know UA had an accessible roof,” said Izuku, prompting the person he was looking for to turn around.

Aizawa Shouta.

“Midoriya? What are you doing here?” He asked in confusion before his usual personality took over. “Aren’t you supposed to be the star of the party?”

Izuku walked closer to Aizawa, who was by the railings on the edge of the roof. He then asked cheekily, “And what are _you_ doing here? Shouldn’t you also be with them, welcoming me and enjoying yourself?”

Aizawa rolled his eyes before replying, “I’ve spent enough time with you. Besides, as you can probably already pick up on, I’m not a big fan of social events.”

Izuku let out a hum before resting his forearms on the railings, taking in the sight from this high up. The underground hero did the same. Wind blew pleasantly at their faces.

Then someone broke the silence.

“You are troubled,” Izuku said matter-of-factly. Aizawa turned his head slightly to look at him with a raised brow. “My mom told me about his morning.”

Aizawa opened his mouth and closed it without saying anything. He… really should have expected that.

“And yesterday. It wasn’t a coincidence that I was assigned to your class, right?”

Everyone’s snitching on Aizawa it seemed…

“You are worried about something.”

Izuku was still facing forward, gazing peacefully at the horizon. Aizawa looked at him with an unreadable expression before turning his head back to do the same.

Then he finally spoke.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he said. “How you act… your quirk… your words.”

Aizawa looked down at the metal railing with a sigh before continuing, “How could you have woken up a completely new person? How is it possible for someone to mature so quickly without being forced into it? I just want to know what happened to you, Midoriya.”

The wind picked up a little, getting slightly louder in their ears. Even at this height, they could still somewhat hear softly the sounds of tree branches and leaves rustling against each other.

“You are really a hero and a teacher, Aizawa,” said Izuku, surprising the underground hero a bit. “You cared for me, a child too young to be introduced to the real world. Yet you cared enough for your students enough to tell me off when we first met. You were afraid that in the off chance a child would get hired, the students would suffer from the mistake. Have you ever heard of this saying?”

Aizawa didn’t move, but he listened intently.

“A teacher for a day, a father for a lifetime.”

He averted his eyes, hoping Midoriya didn’t catch him feeling embarrassed. He was able to find his words and say, “That… still didn’t answer my question. Someone as young as you shouldn't be bearing such a heavy burden.”

“Then I will tell you my secret.”

Aizawa swiftly turned to look at Izuku and was met with kind eyes. “I think you’re trustworthy enough for me to tell you.”

So he did, but just a summed up version. Life in another world. Twenty-five years in one. A hunter of monsters. Bearing a name so legendary that his stories will be remembered for generations to come.

It was illogical. Insane! Yet…

Aizawa couldn’t help but believe it. An adult in a child’s body. A fighter, a tracker, a teacher, even a scholar, to some extent.

A legend.

Suddenly, he was hit with a thought.

All this time, he thought Izuku was a kid that would bring him problems. A problem child.

But it turned out he was being the problematic one. A problem adult.

“Hey, Aizawa,” Izuku said to the one who he would be proud to call a friend. “Call me Izuku, will you?”

Aizawa was caught off guard, donning an expression of bewilderment. Seeing Midoriya’s tranquil face, he suddenly felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

What was that other saying? Poking your nose into someone else’s problems is the essence of being a hero?

So he replied with a smile, “Only if you call me Shouta.”

Izuku’s own smile widened, his eyes thinning into crescents. “Come on! Let’s go back down and enjoy ourselves a bit.”

That moment marked the day that Aizawa truly respected Midoriya.

Thus began the story of UA’s unshakable pillar.


	10. A Memorable Person

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm... we're pretty close to 1000 kudos aren't we...
> 
> So I must voice my appreciation for all you readers, regardless of whether or not you put a kudos or comment. Thank you to all the wonderful people for reading my story.
> 
> An unfortunate announcement at the end notes, but don't despair. It's really not that bad.

“So we’ve been fed wrong information?” Aizawa asked simply, wanting to get to the point.

The younger underground hero in front of him flinched at the tone, confirming his suspicions. “Y-yes… it turned out this warehouse served as their final stronghold and also has underground passageways… it’s not just an unsuspecting storage unit.”

Aizawa drew a long sigh. He knew it wasn’t their fault. There were several underground heroes on the case, but due to its urgency, the majority of the Pro-Heroes believed it would be better to get started earlier to end this villain organisation. As a result, the underground heroes were unable to do a thorough enough search of their enemy before the villains were made aware of the situation.

Good thing he had an ace up his sleeves.

“Luckily enough, it should be about time,” said Aizawa, pulling up his phone and tapping on the screen a few times.

A student in his third year of Hero Work Studies heard him loud and clear and his face brightened up. “Aizawa-sensei, are you contacting Midoriya-sensei for backup?”

The corners of Aizawa’s lips twitched upwards. “Yes. Now sit tight and wait for reinforcements.”

“Excuse me…”

Ryukyu, the current number twelve hero, heard their conversation and she couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat. “Did… did you say Midoriya?”

The third year student was lucky enough to be currently working under her in his Work Studies, though there was a clear contrast between their reactions regarding this Midoriya fellow.

For good reason.

Midoriya Izuku was terrifying.

While that was known to most students over time, they didn’t fear him because Izuku was a kind-hearted person who helped anyone that sought guidance in anything. As long as one didn’t make him mad, then he would be that guy that everyone liked.

But not for Tatsuma’s case.

Forget his sword-like gaze stabbing into her back in her dragon form when she used her quirk, the strange aura emanating from his form was enough to intimidate her to avoid interaction. It also seemed that she was the only one who could detect the sheer power being leaked from his body unconsciously.

Ryukyu blamed her quirk for her inability to converse to Midoriya properly.

“Right on,” confirmed Aizawa, now with his signature grin. “Now we just wait.”

“And it’ll be over before we know it.”

* * *

_Beep._

…

_Beep._

…

_Beep._

“ … Mm.”

_Beep._

Indoors, in a humid room. Glass roof like a greenhouse and sturdy walls.

Bioenergy spread freely in the indoor garden filled with shelves of ceramic pots containing otherworldly flora. It was very spacious, with a circular platform near the end of the room. On the platform’s center stood a young and healthy Ancient Tree, its growth stagnated right before its impressive height could burst through the roof.

In the very center of the room itself sat an egg atop a smaller platform. It emitted a black sheen and wasn’t as smooth as it was when it first came to be. It was very greedy, absorbing every bit of bioenergy that came in contact with it, but never showed signs of hatching.

There was someone sitting on one of the larger roots of the Ancient Tree, facing the opposite end of the room, at the egg and the entrance.

His eyes opened.

And in that instance, the blue lights brightening up the room shot right back into his body, marginally dimming the area.

Right outside was like a living room of sorts, containing furniture of leisure and the like. It also doubled as something akin to a lobby, as it was also connected to a few other doors leading to different rooms.

In one corner stood his armor- no, costume rack.

He was out of the building in a short while, in costume with his equipment and a location in mind. His palico came running to him, excited to finally get into action once more.

He finally put on the helmet he was holding onto over his head. From under it, a wild grin.

“Urgent quest, huh?”

Midoriya Izuku had come out of seclusion.

* * *

It took less than twenty minutes for Izuku to freerun his way here at speeds almost rivaling speed quirks. Nekoko had no trouble catching up to him and neither did Tachi and Nibui.

Recognition flashed through the eyes of some Pro-Heroes and policemen, and they let him pass without a word. He entered the makeshift war room to see Eraserhead, Ryukyu, a third year student and a few other heroes.

Compared to the costumes of the heroes, his own garbs were downright menacing in nature.

At a distance it appeared to be a jumpsuit, but with closer inspection it was actually a two-piece costume that wasn’t too tight or too loose fitting. Black in color with crimson lines running down the seams, it was made of a material known only by its creators.

The upper area was like exotic scale mail, lined with large, red-tipped ‘scales’. In the center of his chest, over the four-point sapphire star marking his skin, an unsettlingly realistic illustration of a dragon’s eye. He wore dark bracers on his forearms paired with black gloves that had blood red palms.

The lower area wasn’t as imposing, black with red seams. His boots however, almost covered the entire ankle. It bore a metallic luster and followed a similar pattern with the torso portion of his costume. Not many people knew this, but while the tip of his boots were sturdy and definitely packed a punch, they also contained retractable spikes.

The helmet had the same color scheme with a short horn that seemed to glow like magma jutting upwards from his forehead. He also wore a silver respirator around his neck that was designed to fit quite well with his headgear.

No one knew how Izuku came up with his costume idea, save for Eraserhead, his mother, and Fatalis itself.

The outfit was in actuality, a _tamer_ version of the armor based on the Black Dragon’s crimson counterpart.

Crimson Fatalis.

The respirator however took inspiration from the drawings made by his younger self.

He’d never fought one before, but he had come across a picture of how its armor looked like in his other life.

Nekoko simply wore the acorn armor. It looked cute and provided decent protection, not that the palico could die by external causes. Izuku was at least ninety-nine percent sure of that, knowing what his companion was capable of.

There were a few whispers among the Pro-Heroes as he made his way to Eraserhead. That was because of the strange circumstances regarding Izuku’s occupation.

“Calling me the day I come out of seclusion? You really waste no time, Shouta,” he joked good-naturedly, pressing the two hidden buttons on the sides of his helmet. The mask area drew upwards and into the helmet like a retractable visor, revealing his face.

Eraserhead shook his head with a smile. “That’s the first thing you say to me after spending two whole months cooped up in your new house meditating? And it’s Eraserhead to you, Izuku.”

Indeed, Izuku had no hero name or even an alias. He was Midoriya Izuku.

Nedzu had pulled some strings and the Hero Commission acquiesced to the request of making a specialized license for him to use his ‘quirk’ for this type of work. Normally, someone of Izuku’s age working in UA would cause a stir in the media, but that’s where the Hero Commission came in again.

They made a deal with Midoriya. On their end, they have to conceal some details of his identity and the identity of his parents. His age was one of the details the government was willing to hide. It didn’t matter how they did it, as long as they could fulfill their promise.

What about the deal on his end? That would be a story for another time.

“Midoriya-sensei!” The third year student greeted with much enthusiasm. “It’s been a while!”

Izuku looked at him warmly. “Jun. It’s the start of the school year and you’re already working.”

Jun’s face twisted in indignance all of a sudden before he said pitifully, “Sensei, I knew UA was going to be hard, but this is way too early to be doing Work Studies all of a sudden after the holidays!”

Izuku laughed loudly before grasping onto the weapon on his back and attached its two parts in place with a click.

A light bowgun.

Honestly, he could probably handle the raid just fine with his own strength reaching that of typical High-Rank hunter’s, but still a ways away from G-Rank. Better safe than sorry, though!

“Alright, assemble the strike force and sit tight while I blast those doors open,” said Izuku, digging through his pouch to find a might seed and adamant seed before chewing on them and swallowing. “Catch.”

He tossed his pouch to Eraserhead who began to search through it, finding more seeds to consume for himself and Jun. He stretched his arm holding the pouch Ryukyu’s direction and he asked, “Want some?”

“Ah… I’m fine. Thank you,” she replied with a little apprehension. Aizawa furrowed his brows for a moment but didn’t push the matter.

He began to gather up the Pro-Heroes and informed them to prepare themselves. They might not have a concrete plan, but they were disciplined and were able to assemble their numbers in under two minutes. Then Eraserhead led them to Izuku’s location, through the crowds of the police force and up right in front of the warehouse doors.

He was just in time to see Izuku fire his final bullet at the hinges of the giant doors. There were over a dozen bullets stuck all over the door frame. After taking in the scene, several pros began gazing skywards, discreetly holding back their tears as they experienced flashbacks.

_Holy shit! It’s that kid again! Who let him lead the raid?!_

Even though they didn’t know Izuku’s age, all of them collectively agreed that he was surely about the age of some of their interns, if not younger.

While they could admit Midoriya had a talent in strategy… it really looked like he never did.

His plans were heart attack-inducing and so damn reckless that it _really_ looked like he was just rushing headfirst into danger. And if there was one thing that made it worse…

It was that his plans never failed. Ever. Not yet, at least, but there had never been a casualty on the heroes’ side, regardless of their numbers and information.

Was this how it felt to work with All Might if he participated in large-scale raids?

As for the less traumatized heroes, they were just confused over why that small fellow in such a vicious-looking costume was so close to the enemies’ stronghold.

Izuku gave a thumbs up to the crowd. Aizawa and Jun did the same to him. He reached for a button in the light bowgun, triggering the bullets

And the doors promptly exploded from its hinges.

_Sticky ammo._

With a bit of modernization.

If this was a typical warehouse, the walls would have been blown up too, but this one received barely any damage from the blast.

_A variant of the typical hardening quirk? Object hardening?_

Before the dust could settle, Eraserhead tossed two smoke bombs at the doorway, blocking both sides from gaining sight on each other.

“Ryukyu, can you transform into your dragon form now?” Asked Izuku, jolting Ryukyu out of her gawking. She complied without hesitation, activating her quirk and growing into a dragon within seconds.

Izuku nodded in satisfaction and took his pouch from Eraserhead before issuing an order, “Once I tell you to, clear the smoke with a flap of your wings.”

“Yes!” Ryukyu replied quickly, as she did not dare oppose one who had enough power to stare down even her dragon form and come out victorious.

Izuku pulled up a round object from his small bag. _Bomb casing_ , from the other world. That, combined with a living _flashbug_ was the typical Guild recipe of a _flash bomb_. It worked similar to this world’s flashbangs. The casing had holes all over it for the light to spread out from the origin of the flash.

Stun grenades on Earth were a bit predictable and sometimes slow, so he went traditional. Flashbugs emit a powerful flash of light on death, so there were a few ways to use flash bombs, depending on the situation.

But without a doubt, if he was to use any method in this scenario, it would be the easiest one.

Izuku pulled his arm back, flash bomb in hand.

And threw it through the smoke and into the building with most of his might.

The casing broke on contact with the ground and the shock from the impact was more than enough to kill the flashbug, setting off a bright flash. Shouts of surprise could be heard from inside the warehouse. His mask was back in place and he put on the respirator.

“Ryukyu, now!”

Large wings flapped, wind displacing the smoke and Izuku _moved_.

He made small craters on the ground when he shot forward, Nekoko zipping into action and kinsects taking to the air, eager for combat. Eraserhead and Jun rushed forward the moment he jumped into the fray.

It took the other heroes a second to process what just happened, but they eventually charged in to provide assistance.

Everything was resolved in less than half an hour, with the underground passageways being assigned special force units to be combed out and any villains present were dealt with swiftly.

Eraserhead and Izuku bid farewell to Ryukyu and Jun as they boarded a police car back to UA.

* * *

They made it back without much fanfare, getting off the car in front of the UA gates. Izuku’s kinsects took off to their dwelling immediately and Nekoko stuck close to its meowster.

“Thanks for the ride,” Aizawa said to the officer driving the police car.

“It’s no problem! I feel honored to be in the presence of two heroes,” the man replied, switching gears to drive away. “Thanks for your service!”

“You too,” Izuku said kindly after pulling down his respirator. The officer was caught off guard and drove off in a fluster.

Both teachers entered school grounds walking side by side, ignoring the wide-eyed stares from the students.

“New edition of your costume?” Aizawa asked curiously.

Izuku answered, “Not really. The design’s the same, but it’s just slightly bigger to fit better after my small growth spurt in seclusion.”

Aizawa nodded with a hum. Izuku’s costume wasn’t made of particularly rare materials. Many costumes had to be made over the years to accommodate for his growing body. He wouldn’t be able to fight with his full strength if his costume didn’t fit well.

He had made a deal with Majima, Power Loader, that his costume and equipment would be manufactured by the hero himself. In return, Izuku would give most of the scales, hair, skin and other naturally shed monster parts to him.

Izuku did not spend the last year becoming complacent. He was extremely busy, constantly pushing at the limits of his ability alongside fulfilling his job as a teacher.

He had quite a reputation in UA.

“You wanna join me for lunch, Shouta?” Izuku asked with a cheeky grin. Aizawa’s eye twitched.

“Do I want to be mobbed by students in the cafeteria? Hell no. I’ll stick to eating in the teacher’s lounge.” He made a turn and walked another direction, hearing Izuku chuckling behind him.

He shook his head in amusement and headed to the cafeteria. Standing right under one of the entrances and somehow not catching the attention of anyone inside, he pulled up his helmet.

Suddenly, an upperclassman bumped into him from behind.

“A-ah! S-sorry about that, man-” the student paused, taking in the sight before him.

“Are you alright?” Came the voice of Izuku.

Then the student exclaimed, “Midoriya-sensei?!”

The cafeteria was silenced in an instant. Even the first years who had no idea what was going on didn’t dare breathe loudly, following their seniors’ lead.

Izuku turned around, letting everyone see his face.

Dark green hair with naturally wild curls reached down to his shoulders, bangs shy of reaching his eyes. An androgynous face that might leave one to question his gender, if his body shape wasn’t obvious enough.

Izuku held the helmet by his side, vibrant sapphire eyes sweeping through the silent crowd with a warm smile. He finally spoke, “It’s been a while, all of you.”

That seemed to snap them out of it.

“Midoriya-sensei!!!” The entire cafeteria damn near burst into complete chaos with how many second and third year students getting up to crowd him.

“Long time no see!”

“Sick costume!”

“How have you been?”

Words were thrown all around as Izuku made his way into the cafeteria. The first year students were confused, but very few dared to ask about it.

“Midoriya!” Lunch Rush himself called out to him. “It’s been too long! Care to judge my ability to cook one of your recipes today?”

Eyes turned and they all locked on Izuku with hope. He had a contemplating expression.

“I _am_ quite hungry… What about the Bherna special?” That sent people muttering amongst themselves, wondering what this new recipe was.

Lunch Rush looked fired up, as this was his first time cooking the Bherna special. He did not want to make any mistakes. He sped off inside the kitchen and pulled out one of the chefs from inside.

“Huh?” The man managed to utter out before Lunch Rush lectured him.

“You, take the students’ orders and get the others cooking. We hired you guys for emergencies like me not being able to cook fast enough for everyone. Now that emergency has come, so get to work or I’ll fire you.” The hero was out of sight once more, leaving a clueless chef to deal with the line of hungry students.

“ … Which fucker was it that told me this was easy money again?”

As the random chef accepted his fate, Izuku had settled down on the cafeteria’s biggest table, still crowded by upperclassmen. The surrounding tables were fully occupied within seconds as he put his helmet on the floor between his feet. He was able to chat with them easily, despite the clamor.

“Midoriya-sensei, would you like me to tie your hair?” A female student asked thoughtfully.

“If it isn’t too much trouble, Ella,” he replied with a smile that lifted the student’s spirits for the day.

They were used to the air of maturity that Izuku exuded, so it didn’t stop them from getting closer to him. From a table in the corner, two friends watched the scene, one with great interest and one the opposite.

“A sensei? Not a senpai? How interesting! It seems all of our senpais are quite familiar with Midoriya. What do you think, Tamaki?” The blonde student asked his friend before his eyes landed on the palico. “And look at that bipedal cat! It kind of reminds me of a sidekick.”

“Please don’t get me involved in this, Mirio. I’m just glad there’s fewer people here,” Tamaki muttered just loud enough for Mirio to hear, prompting his friend to bark out a laugh.

From another table, bright blue eyes that held the curiosity of the world stared at Izuku in wonder.

“That smell… could it be?!” That voice caught everyone’s attention, and they were suddenly aware of the fragrance wafting through the air.

“Lunch Rush…” Izuku idly commented, taking in the familiar aroma. “You are truly the hero who had prepared a full-course French meal for ten-thousand victims of a typhoon a few years ago.”

The double doors separating the cafeteria and the cooking staff area opened, and countless eyes bulged with stupefied looks. Lunch Rush pushed out a cart, the top tray containing-

“A CHEESE FOUNTAIN?!”

Izuku sat in place as he reminisced, ignoring the mayhem happening around him from both new and old students alike. His short ponytail was done at this point, not quite straightening his hair but preventing it from touching his shoulders. Lunch Rush wheeled the cart to his table and set the large fountain atop it with surprising ease.

The students were then hit with another wave of fragrance, this time carrying the flavor of meat. The lower trays were full of cooked ingredients. Many were drooling at this point, but they were patient, their example followed by their juniors.

As everything was placed on the table, there was almost too little space to fit all of the delectable food. Izuku picked up two long metal skewers and glanced at Nekoko. “Koko, have you washed your hands and feet already?”

“Of course, meowster!” The palico hopped on top of the table, its feet carefully placed to not touch the food. “I’ve always wanted to do what the Purr-prietress does all the time!”

Izuku held the one skewer in each hand, ready for action. He said something that absolutely peaked everyone’s appetite.

“Let’s show them how it’s done.”

Nekoko picked up the largest chunks of meat and vegetables and tossed them upwards in the air, emulating the bistro of Bherna village. Izuku’s arms were almost a blur, piercing them with the sharp utensils in his hands and creating giant kebabs as the crowd watched with awe.

He thrust them forward into the fountain, letting melted cheese coat every part of the ingredients before pulling the skewers out and letting everyone watch the cheese drip enticingly on his plate.

Then he dug in with great gusto, somehow not making a mess out of himself. He had experience, after all.

“I call dibs,” someone said, hand reaching out for a smaller skewer only to be intercepted by another hand.

“Hold on there, my little kouhai. You’re only a first year, so you’re not close to Midoriya-sensei. There’s not enough for anyone, so let your senpais go first alright~?” A third year student said with a deceptively sweet voice.

“Hey, hey, Midoriya-sensei’s the one who had Lunch Rush prepare this, so he should be the one to decide who gets to eat with him,” another third year student said, looking at Izuku chowing down on the good stuff. His voice was full of hope.

Which was immediately dashed when Izuku’s eyes of clear mischief turned to him. He opened his mouth to say something.

“First come first serve.”

And there was a pandemonium.

“Why is your personality all over the place, sensei~?!” A random upperclassman lamented loudly as he was drowned by the flood of students.

* * *

“A Heroics teacher?” Izuku asked in surprise, sitting across principal Nedzu.

“Indeed! At least for the first years. One of our Heroics teachers had finally retired, and I trust you enough to take over his place. That is if you are willing to,” said Nedzu, enjoying a cup of tea with Izuku.

“Mori-sensei, huh…” That was the retired pro that had taught Heroics for years already. “I’m glad he finally retired. He can take it easy now. But I’m not sure if I can take his place. Don’t we already have qualified substitutes?”

“Yes we do, Midoriya, but I’m requesting this of you because I believe you are the _most_ qualified among the teachers for this position,” the principal spoke confidently, pouring another cup of tea for himself.

Izuku was still feeling a bit doubtful, evident by his facial expression. “I guess I’ll think about it. Thank you for your kind words.”

“Ah, before you leave,” Nedzu went for the sure-kill opportunity, pulling out a letter from one of his desk drawers. “I’m not the only one who believes in you, Midoriya.”

Izuku grasped the letter from the principal’s hands and bid his farewell, slowly pulling out the paper of text from the envelope. He read the letter in his head as he walked to his destination.

‘If you’re reading this, then that means I’ve already retired. I hope you had a peaceful two month seclusion.’

He exited the main building, heading towards a path leading rather deep in UA’s forests.

‘It had been an absolute blast working with you this past year. I don’t think I’ve ever had such an unforgettable experience over the years I’d been teaching. To that, I thank you.’

Hidden under the thick foliage was a private facility, made exclusive for Izuku. This was his second home and place of research and seclusion.

‘At some point I had come to the decision that I wanted to finally retire. Your presence and impact in the school had left me content, and I could rest assured without regret.’

Izuku entered the building and made his way to the living room. His kinsects were settled on a small potted tree by the corner of the room and Nekoko ran off on all fours back to its bed.

‘So I would like you, Midoriya Izuku, to take my place and teach the younger generation of what it means to be a hero.

Sincerely, Mori Saishi.’

Izuku folded the letter after he finished reading it. A smile graced his face and he sighed in acceptance.

_What else can I say to that?_

Glancing around the room, he idly thought about returning home to meet his mom after his two months of absence. That would have to wait a while, as school was still in session.

He had two classes of first years to attend to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... a timeskip? Yup!
> 
> Sorry if you guys wanted to see Izuku work his way to becoming everyone's friend, but that would be a chore to write, plus there would be too many OCs! As you can see, I've jumped to the Big Three's first year.
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTICE
> 
> I will be going on a hiatus after this chapter due to school stuff. I can't say when I'll return, but I PROMISE I will return to continue the fic. Four months at MOST, I would say. Apologies for the inconvenience caused.
> 
> If we're lucky, I might slip in an update in that time. I can't confirm that though.
> 
> In the meantime, you can find me in the total command discord: https://discord.gg/thehoard


	11. Dream Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so hear me out now.
> 
> It turned out I had some free time before my online classes, so I decided to put out another chapter before the actual hiatus starts.
> 
> Okay now don't expect anymore surprises, aight?
> 
> Now to address another thing... we've recently hit 1000 kudos, yall! I was going to update the fic either on Sunday or when we hit 1000 kudos and damn, that was fast! Many thanks to the readers who enjoyed my work. Stuff like that puts a smile on my face.
> 
> Without further ado, get to reading the longest chapter yet!

Heroics class, the last class of the day.

Led by their homeroom teacher, the students of class 1-A were outfitted for the part for their first ever Heroics class. Mirio was an exception due to his quirk, so he wore the UA gym uniform as he patiently awaited the day his costume was finally manufactured.

They were waiting in Ground Beta in the building that had several screens for viewing the activity that would take place in another location.

Tamaki was beside him, head low and hiding his face in the hood of his white cloak. Mirio couldn’t help but exclaim, “Your hero costume turned out great, Tamaki!”

Tamaki pulled his hood down lightly and said softly, “I’m not the only one here with a costume…”

“Eh? Someone in our class not wearing a costume?” A girl with absurdly long blue hair popped up right beside Mirio, spooking Tamaki a bit. Her curious royal blue eyes darted between the two of them and questions flew out of her mouth. “Why aren’t you wearing a costume? What’s your hood for? Is it to block out the light? But isn’t black the best color for that? Does it have something to do with your quirk? Wait, what _are_ your quirks?”

Mirio stared at the enthusiastic girl before him and he broke into a grin. “Can you repeat that? You were talking a bit too quickly.”

She blinked once before perking up slightly. Her lips curled into a sweet smile. “Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Hado Nejire!”

Mirio nodded in acknowledgement and introduced himself and his best friend. “My name is Togata Mirio, and my friend here is Amajiki Tamaki. Nice to meet you, Hado!”

“Why did you introduce yourself along with your friend? Can Amajiki not speak?” Nejire asked honestly with a tilt of her head. He chuckled a little, learning the type of personality she had.

“Not quite. Tamaki is just shy, but give him some time and I’m sure he’ll open up to you like he did to me,” Mirio said confidently, placing a hand on his uneasy friend’s shoulder. Nejire seemed to come to an understanding as her face lit up and she looked at Tamaki with unwavering eyes. Tamaki had a bad feeling about this. “And our quirks are-”

“Settle down, everyone,” their homeroom teacher piped up suddenly, interrupting Mirio. “The Heroics teacher is here.”

The students turned their heads to see a familiar face approaching them. It was the kid that made a scene in the cafeteria. This time around, the cat wasn’t with him.

Izuku stopped right by the teacher’s side, holding his helmet up with an arm. His gaze swept past the crowd, lingering just a moment longer on a certain group of three before he opened his mouth.

“If you have a problem with my age, then you may leave. No one’s stopping you,” he said firmly with a hint of coldness, making a few students jolt in surprise. Izuku’s eyes glowed briefly, menacingly, and there was only silence. He nodded in satisfaction before his expression softened.

He turned to the homeroom teacher to ask about something that was on his mind for a while. “Why are there only nineteen students? What happened to student number ten?”

“Family-related matters,” replied the man, sparing a glance at Izuku. “He decided to drop out, since they were in a different city.”

“And he didn’t even ask for a solution that let him stay enrolled?” He asked in intrigue. “This is UA, after all.”

The teacher shrugged and spoke his thoughts. “Maybe it’s because there’d be too much to catch up on once he returned. If he does return at all.”

Izuku frowned but accepted that judgement for now. He turned back to the students and the class began. “My name is Midoriya Izuku. You will refer to me as Midoriya-sensei. Now onto the task at hand, make five groups, four students each group except for one. You have five minutes.”

The class spread out and mingled, groups being formed quickly. Mirio and Tamaki were definitely teaming up together, and to their surprise, Nejire stuck with the both of them. Five minutes had passed quickly and they realized they were the one group of three.

“Normally we’d save this more advanced class for rescue training given its nature, but since I was the one who came up with this idea, I was allowed to let you first years have a taste of what’s to come in future Heroics classes.” Izuku said loud enough for everyone to hear as he began explaining the objective, “This is a hostage rescue scenario, where each group will have to bring back two hostages to the ‘safe zone’, which is the area you start the operation in. You will be given the layout of the three-story building and the location of the hostages. Each group has fifteen minutes to complete the objective. Expect resistance.”

“Since this is your first Heroics class of your lives, you may take advantage of the fact that the hostages are just sand bags shaped like humans and disregard their physical well-being. Just be sure not to rip the bags open, whether accidentally or not.” His eyes scanned the class once more and his lips curled into a minuscule smirk. “Just be careful not to lose your grasp and drop the hostages to the ground. If you do that, there will be consequences.”

Glancing at the only group of three, he said to them, “You three will be the first team to carry out the exercise. Please head to the designated starting area.”

Barring Tamaki’s horrified face, the members of the group seemed excited to be the first ones to go. Nejire skipped out of the viewing room eagerly to start the practice. Mirio dragged Tamaki outside with a confident smile. Izuku had also given them small transceivers for them to insert into their ears to communicate with one another without needing to stick to each other.

The trio stood in position in the safe zone which was basically just walls and a ceiling with a large opening in the front. A distance across from it was the main building they were supposed to infiltrate. They had five minutes to plan before their fifteen minutes started counting down.

“Let’s talk about our quirks for a bit and see what we’re dealing with,” suggested Mirio. “My quirk is permeation, which allows me to turn myself intangible and pass through any form of physical matter.”

His smile fell just a tad. “It sounds impressive, but I still have a lot of trouble with my quirk despite how long I’ve had it, like how my clothes also pass through my body. Same goes for light, so I would be blind while my quirk is active. Also air, which leads to sound, so I won’t be able to breathe or hear anything.”

He settled a fist on his chest as he took on a look of determination. “That’s why I’ve come to UA, All Might’s Alma mater, to learn to gain more control over my quirk, and be the hero I aspire to be!”

Tamaki stared at his friend from the corner of his vision with a hint of admiration. Seeing that Mirio had displayed his noble intent without hesitation, he couldn’t help but think that it was only proper that he should speak up to tell Hado his quirk.

“My quirk is called manifest… it allows me to manifest parts of any animal I’ve eaten recently on my body. The more of the same animal I eat, the stronger the manifestation… once the food gets digested, then I can’t use my quirk anymore,” Tamaki managed timidly, not used to saying so many words to someone unfamiliar to him.

Nejire was starry-eyed, looking at the two friends in front of her. “Oh! Both of you are so cool~! My quirk is called wave motion, and I can turn my vitality into flashy shockwaves with it! But if I do it too much, I get so tired I can’t even move a muscle!”

“The exercise is about to begin. Prepare yourselves.” Izuku’s voice sounded from their transceivers.

“Alright, you two. Let’s not waste any time reaching the hostages, but do be sure to practice caution. We don’t know what kind of resistance there is, so keep your senses sharp!” Said Mirio, inspecting the labyrinthine layout of the main building. It wasn’t easy to get lost, per se, but the hallways and stairs were tall and wide, as if a typical three-story building was scaled up in size. They had some distance to cover.

Tamaki looked outside idly and he could swear there was a thin mist in the air, despite it being the afternoon. He didn’t say anything about it though.

“Begin!” And they were off, jogging from the safe zone building to the building with the objective. The group traversed the halls with decent speed, wary of their surroundings. To their confusion, nothing happened all the way to the hostage room.

Two sandbag dolls laid on the ground in the center of the giant room, a few pillars present to hold up the ceiling. Mirio scratched the side of his head in puzzlement. “There’s nothing stopping us all the way to the hostage room… maybe we have to pick up the dolls first?”

Tamaki nervously eyed the large concrete spheres sitting in the corners of the room, but ultimately decided not to comment on it. Since Mirio was arguably the weak link of their group because of his quirk, he volunteered to carry both hostages.

“Ten minutes remaining!”

Hoisting the dolls over his shoulders, the trio left the room without hurry, partially curious of the challenge that might present itself. They walked to the stairway, preparing to go down to the lower floors.

Then they heard it.

Heavy footsteps accompanied by audible taps resembling the tapping of one’s fingernails against a solid surface with every step. The group paused instinctively, stopping barely a quarter of the way down. Heads turned.

And it turned the corner, looking down the stairway and at the three students.

An avian beak with a darkened tip, face resembling a dodo bird. A raptor-like body covered with light yellow scales a similar shade with sand, with feathers of an orange gradient jutting out from the top of its head and more on the side of its forearm. Its hands and feet had three digits each, all with sharp talons.

It was also over eight meters in length from its beak to the tip of its tail, and its backside was taller than any of the three.

_Kulu-Ya-Ku._

The spectating students gawked. The homeroom teacher whistled, impressed. Izuku spoke up, “I assure you all, their lives are in no danger. Ya-Ku knows how to hold back. Well, mostly.”

Then he put a hand on his chin, contemplating. _I forgot to tell those three that._

He simply said through his own transceiver, “No need to fear for your lives. UA’s intense, but not that intense. You’ll be fine.”

It was not fine.

They were terrified out of their minds but they couldn’t snap out of their frozen state. The Kulu-Ya-Ku let out a bird-like screech, which did the trick. The three scrambled, booking it down the stairs with a giant monster chasing them from behind.

“I didn’t know UA had dinosaurs!” Nejire said loudly in mild distress.

The stairway turned a whole one-eighty halfway down the flight, and so did they. The bird wyvern’s feet skidded across the concrete floor after it jumped down half of the stairs but remained unphased, eyes locked on to one person in particular.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku leapt down the last half of the stairs down to the first floor and turned. The wind caused Mirio to trip down from a misstep, sending the sandbags sprawling all over the floor. When his painful descent finally ended, he curled up on himself, assuming the worst.

Then he heard rushed footfalls going up the stairs and he opened his eyes. The monster had swiftly picked up the hostages without damaging them with its claws and it headed to the hostage room, ignoring the other two students.

They recovered from the fright and he led his team to the second floor once more to see the hostages sitting in the same place they had been initially. The monster sat in the corner of the room, staring at the three but not moving.

Back in the spectator room, Izuku, with much effort, suppressed the urge to cackle out loud at the scene.

It was basically a badly disguised egg quest.

But no one knows what egg quests were, save for his mother and Shouta, so it didn’t matter how bad the cover up was.

In the process of holding back his delight over watching other people suffer, his smile turned twisted and downright villainous, making students inch away from him. The homeroom teacher glanced at him and just shook their head.

The monster laid in place, deep warbles from its throat resonating in the room.

Nejire made grabbing motions with her hands raised in front of her, but she didn’t dare to actually touch the monster. “So cool…”

Mirio had a frown on his face as he tried to think of a way to actually succeed in their task. Considering the size of the entire building, time could be considered scarce. As strong as Tamaki’s and Hado’s quirks were, he just couldn’t see his team being able to defeat this beast.

The side of his fist struck down onto his open palm and his expression conveyed confidence once more. “Huddle up, everyone! I’ve got a plan!”

The way Mirio looked at Tamaki gave the gloomy boy a sense of dread. He wasn’t going to like this, but to remain in UA and become a hero alongside his best friend, he had to push himself to new heights.

Mirio told them of their plan, which Nejire was all too eager to follow along with. He patted his friend’s back reassuringly, and Tamaki tried his best not to let peer pressure get the better of him as he stepped back from the other two, getting into position.

The first phase of their plan was executed and Mirio and Nejire rushed forward to grab the hostages. Unsurprisingly, that prompted the Kulu-Ya-Ku to pounce into action. It ran towards them both in an attempt to intimidate the two from carrying out the objective, but Nejire abruptly stopped in her tracks and turned to the monster, hands outstretched forward and palms open.

And out came a shockwave.

“Sorry, Mr. or Mrs. Dinosaur!” Spirals of yellow energy burst out from her palms and it made a direct hit on the Kulu-Ya-Ku, sending it flying and slamming into a wall. It fell down on the ground and thrashed wildly, trying to reorient itself and get up.

Mirio had picked up the sandbag dolls again and executed the next part of the plan. Nejire stood in place, back turned to the entrance of the room. Mirio ran up to her and stood back-to-back with her, facing their only exit.

She raised her hands in front of herself once more and sent out another shockwave. This time, she turned off her body’s natural recoil control.

The kickback sent her and Mirio rocketing out of the room and to Tamaki who was standing near the stairway. They stumbled for a moment, but didn’t trip.

“It’s all on you now, Tamaki!” Mirio exclaimed, taking off down the stairs with a rather spent Nejire.

The rising adrenaline levels in Tamaki’s system was slowly but surely washing away the anxiety in his heart. He dug through one of the hidden pockets in his costume and pulled out a small packet containing food.

The monster was able to get up but instead of giving chase, it first picked up one of the giant concrete spheres on the ground with its claws, which it fit quite snugly between its avian extremities.

Tamaki opened up the food packet and downed the contents, which consisted of a generous number of dried oysters.

Izuku didn’t take his eyes off the screen displaying the inevitable confrontation.

He tried to taunt it, but his words came out to be very underwhelming. “Y-your opponent is me…”

The Kulu-Ya-Ku exited the room and swiftly made its way towards Tamaki. Then he noticed something.

The monster wasn’t paying attention to him at all.

The final phase of this haphazardly put together plan required him to stall it for as long as he could for the other two to run back to the safe zone.

And he’d be damned if he couldn’t even distract it for several seconds.

“I said…” Tamaki’s right forearm morphed, increasing in size and weight. It was shaped into an oyster shell, with its exterior uneven and jagged as he swept his rapidly growing arm high. “Your opponent is me!”

The man-sized oyster shell smashed into the side of the monster’s face on the last syllable and put a halt in its tracks. Slightly stunned, the Kulu-Ya-Ku staggered, balance unstable. Tamaki’s elbow hurt like hell from lugging around the heavy shell.

Izuku analyzed the huge oyster shell as many thoughts came to his head.

It was rough and heavy, so it packed a good punch like a hammer, but it was slow due to its weight, so it’s not recommended to use it for defensive purposes. Most of the time, anyway. Clams were a better alternative to use as a shield.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku’s temper flared and its focus shifted to Tamaki. It raised the ball of concrete in the air threateningly, and he was able to bring up his quirked arm to block the attack at the last second. Both the shell and the sphere cracked upon impact, but remained intact.

He fell to his knees and he could only think, _I regret agreeing to this plan so much_.

Yet he still fought, for his team needed him and he was adamant in wanting to help them.

Already breathing heavily, his eyes widened when he saw the monster raising the sphere up again, and Tamaki was able to deactivate his quirk and jump back fast enough. The ensuing strike practically shattered the concrete ground.

 _I’m pretty sure I_ should _fear for my life…_

Seeing that he still had the Kulu-Ya-Ku’s attention on him, he used his quirk again. This time, both of his hands morphed into oyster shells almost twice the size of his head.

There were quite a number of dried oysters in that food packet.

Tamaki spread his arms wide, trying to appear bigger in size so that the monster would continue seeing him as a threat. It rushed forward and he tried to see if he could predict its next attack, which he couldn’t but he tried anyway.

It stopped just short of reaching him and Tamaki raised his guard, the shells opening up a bit. The Kulu-Ya-Ku turned its body so that its side faced him. He looked on, confused, and all of a sudden-

Tamaki’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and just before the monster’s tail came in contact with his body, he brought his hands up and the shells snapped shut on the tail, allowing him to cling onto it.

It did not feel pleasant.

Tamaki held on to dear life as the monster screeched at the nuisance on its tail. By some miracle, it decided to forget about him and head downstairs which saved him from throwing up from being on its tail while it was flailing.

“I’ve done all I can! It’s up to you two now!” He exclaimed into the transceiver in his ear. Tamaki slowly but surely inched his way to the monster’s back from its tail.

An announcement sounded loud and clear for everyone to hear, “Five minutes remaining!”

* * *

Mirio and Nejire were currently traversing the labyrinthine hallways of the building’s first floor, trying to find their way to the stairs down to the ground floor. They knew the general direction, sure, but…

 _I can’t believe I dropped the layout!_ Mirio thought with a strained smile. He hadn’t thought to memorize it at all. When they first entered the building, they were so paranoid of the environment that they had not bothered memorizing the pathways previously taken.

“Found the stairs!” Nejire said excitedly before speeding off towards it. Not wanting to be left in the dust, Mirio put more strength into his legs and called out to her.

“Wait up, Hado! The hostages are heavy!” The dolls were made of sandbags after all, and he was only able to catch up to her thanks to his relatively well-trained body.

The ground floor wasn't as confusing as this one, so they could still pass this!

_I can’t let Tamaki’s efforts go to waste!_

Before they reached the stairway, something turned the corner and Mirio was hit with deja vu.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku loomed over them, radiating a sense of impending doom. It raised its head to bring down as a powerful peck, but someone grasped at the feathers on its head and pulled as hard as they could. The monster’s beak missed by a wide margin and there Tamaki was, somehow managing to stay mounted on its head.

Acting quickly, Mirio tried to go around it and reach the stairs, but Tamaki could only do so much to distract the monster. A tail whipped at him and struck true. When his feet touched the ground unsteadily, he realized this wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought.

Nejire looked between the two sides and raised her hands questioningly. “Do I use my quirk…?”

If she was to do so, she had to make sure Amajiki was off the monster first.

Mirio shook his head and ran the opposite direction, intent on finding another route while also losing the monster in the maze.

Thus began a wild goose chase consisting of Mirio and Nejire who were running from the Kulu-Ya-Ku that still had the concrete sphere in its hands, and Tamaki who was on the brink of tears from continuing to clutch on to its head and throw off the monster’s attacks every once in a while.

“Keep running, Hado! We can still pass this!” Mirio shouted with fervor as he and Nejire started to gain some distance from it.

“Hey…” She said suddenly, placing a finger on her bottom lip. “Aren’t we running out of time?”

The smile he had _just_ managed to put back on his face stiffened, and more sweat cascaded down his face. He shook the pessimistic thoughts away and told her with firmness in his voice, “The only reason Tamaki is still holding on is because he believes we still have a chance to pass. I have a new plan in the works, and I need your cooperation. Will you help me with this risky endeavor?”

Nejire had never agreed so easily. “Risky? Count me in!”

They had been running back to the stairway to the second floor. Looking at the steps leading upwards and further from his objective, his plan had already formed. Glancing behind him, he could hear the Kulu-Ya-Ku getting closer but it had yet to make a turn to enter his field of vision.

“Tamaki! Can I trust you to stall it for just a few more seconds? It’s now or never!” Mirio yelled into the transceiver.

 _“F-fine! Just a few seconds, right?”_ Came the shaky reply.

“That’s right! And one more thing, but it won’t be as difficult to do.” The duo ran up the stairs and to the next floor to execute their final plan.

The monster entered the same hallway they had taken and the only thing in its eyes were the two running away from it. It let out a screech for good measure and dashed off to its targets.

Unknowing to it, Tamaki was scheming something on its head.

He stretched his right arm out skywards and his left hand gripped his elbow. Within seconds, the man-sized oyster shell morphed back into existence from his right forearm.

Before the monster could process the extra weight on its head, Tamaki grit his teeth and with all his strength, swung _down_.

The shell collided painfully with its skull and the Kulu-Ya-Ku was thoroughly stunned.

_K.O.!_

It fell on its side and Tamaki was able to avoid being sent airborne thanks to the weight of the oyster shell. The concrete sphere was dropped to the ground and it shattered loudly. Quickly dispelling his quirk, he knew he had overexerted himself with it, but Mirio still had one more task for him to do.

Staring at the monster trying hard to right itself, he spoke into the transceiver, “I’ve bought you guys some time, what now?”

The audio crackled to life and out came his friend’s voice. _“Nice! Now let it chase us up and follow behind it. But not too close though!”_

Tamaki didn’t know why Mirio put emphasis on not following too closely, but he took his words seriously nonetheless.

The monster was able to shake off the stars in its vision and it continued on its chase, with Tamaki trailing it from a short distance. It rose several steps with every stomp of its feet and it barely took five seconds for it to reach the last step.

About fifteen or so meters from it sat Mirio with the two hostages.

On the ground.

Its first priority was always to collect the dolls at all cost as long as it was on the ground, so it rushed forward, unaware of the danger.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku had only taken its first step forward when Nejire struck.

From the same corner the monster had turned to meet the group for the first time, she stood in wait with her palms thrust forward. It had been caught by surprise, and it was too late to react when she used her quirk for the last time in this exercise.

“Bad dinosaur, fly away!” Using up all of her remaining stamina, the ensuing shockwave sent the monster flying into the opposite wall. Impacted by that powerful blast, it also smashed through the wall, causing sunlight to pour into the building. The monster dropped from the top floor to ground level with mere superficial injuries, but it needed to take the long way to reach the group.

Nejire had promptly dropped to the floor and started sleeping with loud snores.

Looking outside, Mirio was glad to say that his calculations were correct. The hole in the wall gave a view of the outside and in front of him, he could see the safe zone building. He could also see the monster getting up and running back into the main building.

“ _That’s_ why you told me not to follow too closely?” Tamaki said incredulously with a tired expression as he made it to the second floor.

“Yup!” Mirio replied with a chipper voice as he cracked his neck and turned to his friend. “Also, the last thing you have to do is throw the hostages down.”

“ … What?”

“No time to explain, just do it!” Then he jumped from the top floor and let gravity take him. 

Tamaki’s eyes bulged. The spectating students gasped and gawked. The homeroom teacher tensed and Izuku narrowed his eyes.

Mirio activated his quirk in the nick of time and he went through the ground. Izuku relaxed and paused the recording from the outdoor camera to prevent the whole class from being flashed.

He addressed the teacher and said, “Tell the class not to worry and explain to them a bit about Togata’s quirk.”

Then he swiftly exited the viewing room.

Outside, Mirio popped out from the ground and took three seconds to reorient himself. Snatching his pants on the ground, he slipped into it in near-record timing. With a quirk like his, learning these skills were like a side-effect.

Up on the top floor, Tamaki dragged the heavy sandbag dolls to the large opening to the outside and hauled them over his shoulder to be thrown one by one. Familiar footfalls sounded behind him just as he threw the last hostage and he stumbled backwards, falling onto his rear.

He was completely exhausted.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku watched on as Mirio broke the falls of the hostages the best he could to not break open the sandbags. He was taking advantage of the fact that they were not real humans, so getting a bit rough with them wouldn’t affect much.

Mirio broke off to a sprint to the safe zone, and made it without trouble. It was done.

“Excellent work, Togata. You managed to complete the objective with only nineteen seconds to spare,” Izuku said with a smile, alerting the student of his teacher’s presence. He had entered through another door.

He handed Mirio his dropped shirt, which he graciously took and put on. There was something on his mind he wanted to say.

“Sensei, you should also give credit to Tamaki and Hado too. I couldn’t have done it without them,” he stated without room for argument.

Izuku’s smile widened slightly and he spoke with a sense of wonder in his voice, “Indeed. This may be the first time we don’t have a definitive answer for who was the MVP of the group.”

Mirio was the one who made the plans and was also the one who carried the hostages all the way to the end. Tamaki was the one who stalled the Kulu-Ya-Ku on two different occasions and even mounted it to provide a distraction. Nejire’s quirk, while only fired three times, was enough to allow Mirio to make the final dash to the safe zone.

None of this would have happened if not for their individual efforts.

“Come on, let’s get to the viewing room. You three had left quite a lot of people on the edge of their seats.” With that, Izuku walked off. Mirio walked behind him, but paused for a moment.

_Wait, if he came from that door, how did he get my shirt?_

The Kulu-Ya-Ku realized the exercise was over and turned to Tamaki, who still felt fearful around it. To his surprise, it picked him up by the back of his cloak with its beak and settled him onto its back. The monster did the same for sleeping Nejire and proceeded to head down with steady steps.

When they were all present for the discussion, there were exclamations of praise thrown around to the embarrassed Mirio. Tamaki was able to avoid having a panic attack with the help of Izuku, who stood by him and discretely taught him to follow his breathing as he let off a calming aura. Nejire was still fast asleep.

Safe to say, the rest of the class was _very_ eventful.

The class had been dismissed and farewells were bid. The homeroom teacher had left to the teacher’s lounge with notes on the students’ capabilities. Only Izuku remained in Ground Beta.

Standing outdoors between the safe zone building and the rather battered main building, he placed a palm on the now-healed Kulu-Ya-Ku’s side. Bioenergy surged, and the monster _grew_.

“It must feel weird to fight with most of your strength suppressed, huh?” He mused softly as he returned the High-Rank strength it had possessed before. It took a whole minute, and the monster grew to a length of about ten meters.

Caressing its giant head with his hands, he said to the Kulu-Ya-Ku, “Return home.”

And it left without hesitation.

Of course, by home he didn’t mean where his mother lived. That would be absurd. He had a home for all of his monsters.

He breathed slowly, watching as the bird wyvern hurried out of the area.

The mist in the air was still present.

There were a few curious students who asked about it, but Izuku had simply brushed them off by diverting the topic. Besides, it was near impossible to see the haze through the cameras.

Izuku turned his head to gaze behind him. If one were to look closely enough, one might be able to see an outline of something.

Something big.

“Good thing we didn’t need your help this time around,” he said, smiling to seemingly nothing in particular. Then the outline shifted.

It became a silhouette of a creature. Its features were oddly unclear but one could still identify its shape.

Four legs. A head with a sharp snout, like a horn. Large wings, but compared to the creature’s body, it’s hard to see it taking to the air. A strange tail that’s wide and similar to a leaf, with a curled and spiraling tip.

“You are one of UA’s trump cards and quite the prideful dragon, so I must thank you for coming along to watch over the first years.” Izuku finished with his talk and walked off the same direction of the Kulu-Ya-Ku.

White gas was spewed from the dragon’s mouth and the surrounding mist thickened considerably.

And just like that, the silhouette vanished from sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See ya next time.
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Kulu-Ya-Ku: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Kulu-Ya-Ku  
> Mystery dragon: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Chameleos


	12. Cryptic Izuku

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back.

_ USJ is massive, _ Mirio thought.

The nineteen students of class 1-A made their way through the large entrance of the facility, and once they passed through, many students audibly expressed their awe at the sheer size of the place.

“This is it. This is UA,” a student spoke aloud. Many agreed to his sentiment, if the subtle nods were any indication.

Three teachers stood in front of the class, hero costumes donned on and watching with smiles as the class took in the sight in front of them. The Space Hero: Thirteen, class 1-A’s homeroom teacher: Raku-sensei, and of course, the favorite amongst the student body, Midoriya Izuku.

“I think that’s enough sightseeing for now, everybody!” Thirteen called out, garnering everyone’s attention. “Why don’t we go down there and actually have a close up look of your future rescue training zones?”

Enthusiastic and affirmative responses sounded from the class and Thirteen followed up with their mandatory lecture about quirks and rescue. “Now, I know all of you must be itching to jump right into action and use your quirk in all sorts of creative ways, but you must remember; all of you are training to be heroes, whose first priority should always be the person needing rescue. So as heroes-in-training, let me tell you this: it is our eternal responsibility, powerful quirk or not, to ensure that our powers are used to help people, not harm.”

“Or, to put it bluntly,” their homeroom teacher spoke up. “Quirks can be dangerous and made lethal easily. It is the job of future heroes that they learn how much is ‘too much’ in combat situations and to learn how to use their quirks to rescue the innocent.”

Listening intently to the lectures given by his teachers, a smile easily came to Mirio’s face. It seemed that finally, only now had it sunk in that he made it into UA.

* * *

Thirteen began, “Now, according to your class syllabus made by your homeroom teacher, we’ll begin with your rescue training in the Mountain Zone followed by training in the Ruins Zone. If there are no disruptions to your schedule, we should be able to cover every zone before the Sports Festival. This should give an edge up in the field for students that may receive internship offers from rescue heroes.”

“Alright, so here’s your first exercise.” Raku-sensei pulled up a small notebook and read its contents, “A student is to be randomly chosen and assigned as the  _ main  _ hero. The main hero can then choose an  _ assistant  _ hero; it can be any one of your classmates. The two heroes will be tasked with rescuing someone who had fallen from atop the cliff and broken their leg-”

“Like so!” Izuku walked right off the cliff’s edge and plummeted straight down, ignoring the shrieks of alarm behind him. The homeroom teacher simply shook his head in amusement as his class scurried forward to look over the edge of the cliff. Seeing that Midoriya-sensei was somehow completely unharmed and sitting up with crossed legs, they collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

Raku-sensei continued, “There’s a catch to this. The person planning the rescue must be the main hero themselves. The assistant hero can only be there to follow the plan, and while they are allowed to give tips, they cannot make up the plan for the main hero. Once a student has been chosen to be an assistant hero, they are not allowed to be chosen once more for the job by another student. Through this method will everyone experience being the main hero and assistant hero. Though because of the odd number of students, we’ll come up with another method when the time comes.”

And thus began the rather unconventional rescue training session.

* * *

“Togata Mirio!” The addressee jolted in attention upon hearing his teacher’s voice. “Who will be your assistant hero?”

Mirio answered without hesitation and with a smile, “Tamaki!”

_ “I knew it, _ ” Amajiki whispered to himself in his embarrassment, Nejire pouting behind him for not being chosen yet. The student with elf-like ears stepped out towards his friend to prepare for the practice.

After several students had their turns, with an even number of successes and failures according to Midoriya-sensei’s standards, it was finally Mirio’s turn. Only when Tamaki stopped in front of him did Mirio realize something.

_ I was so captivated by my classmates that I haven’t come up with a plan! _

He instantly started sweating.

“Ta… Tamaki, what food did you bring with you?” He asked with hopeful eyes.

Knowing what that look was conveying, Tamaki replied without much confidence. “Just dried oysters. Again.”

He rubbed the back of his head and said, “I don’t really know which animal part I should be practicing next, and I didn’t want to risk something weird happening if I used my quirk on foods I’ve never manifested before.”

Mirio sighed, but quickly regained his smile. “That’s okay. We all have room to grow. We just need to do it at our own pace, and UA will help with that.”

He then put on a contemplative expression and inspected the environment.

It was possible to climb down the cliff, since it didn’t exactly go straight down. The cliff face was ever so slightly angled, making for an  _ extremely  _ steep slope, but a slope nonetheless. Mirio was confident he could climb up and down the cliff, but while carrying another person? Unless Tamaki could assist with something.

“I… think I have a plan, but it’s really simple and probably not the best,” he said slowly.

Tamaki shrugged. “As long as it completes our objective, it should be good…”

“Okay, do you think you can climb down this cliff?”

Now it was his turn to sweat. He sucked in a breath of cold air through his teeth with a soft hiss. “I, uh, I think so? But I heard somewhere that climbing down places is usually harder than climbing up… and even if I make it down there, you probably need me to help you with carrying Midoriya-sensei, and I’m not sure if I can handle the extra weight.”

Mirio nodded slowly, turning to face the direction of the cliff’s edge and listened to his friend’s points before replying, “That’s the problem with my plan. It’s the extra weight on us when climbing back up. What I planned was for the both of us to get down to sensei, you use your quirk to turn your arm into a giant oyster, put sensei into that oyster to not aggravate his wound, and somehow carry him up-”

A finger tapped his shoulder and he turned to face Tamaki, whose head was tilted down and facing the ground, an aura of gloom radiating off of his form. “Mirio… how heavy do you think an oyster shell big enough to hold a human is?”

Mirio opened his mouth.

“Ah.”

Mirio closed his mouth.

An awkward silence descended upon the pair, interrupted by a stray cough from one of their classmates.

“Hurry up, my legs are broken!” Izuku shouted from far below, sending the brains of the two heroes-in-training into overdrive.

They both had the same thought,  _ I totally forgot how painful it must be in a real life scenario! _

“Tamaki! As a hero, I need to be able to reassure the victim that help is coming soon, so climb down as fast as you can, okay?” Mirio said as he took a few steps back.

“Hold on, you are not about to- aaaand he’s off.” Amajiki said bitterly, watching his friend get a running start and jumping right off the edge.

Mirio really should have thought about the consequences of flashing a distressed victim, but the problem was that he didn’t have time to think before making this foolish decision.

Izuku watched with twitching lips as his student ungraciously fell to the bottom of the cliff with flailing arms not unlike the first time he attempted such a risky maneuver. Then right as Mirio activated his permeation and his body sunk into the ground and through his gym attire, his teacher’s eyes went wide.

“Oh fuck, I forgot.” Izuku muttered to himself before standing up and yelling up to his colleagues, “Hold on! I’ll go get him!”

The class was confused for a few seconds, then they realized Mirio hadn’t come up yet for some reason. That spelled bad news for them, especially Tamaki, who had just started climbing down. He watched as Midoriya-sensei picked up Mirio’s clothes and squeezed his body through a large and unassuming crack in the cliff face that somehow no one had noticed before.

He heard someone say, “He probably no-clipped out of bounds and fell out of the world.”

Then a  _ smack! _

Followed by a faint,  _ “Owww… I was just joking…” _

From Izuku’s perspective, after getting through the crack in the wall, the tunnel became slightly wider, allowing him to walk normally before encountering a crawlspace. His body was small enough for him to swiftly crawl through the relatively short distance and he saw light.

Making his way out of the tunnel and standing back up, he landed his sights on the massive underground chamber before him. The ceiling was as high up as at least five times his height, and the diameter of the chamber was no shorter than forty meters across.

In this space laid a tiny yet cozy village of sorts. Huts made up of hollowed up giant mushrooms or mossy planks of wood sat in place. Numerous torches and a few bonfires lit up the place. Izuku was then greeted by the village’s residents, a bunch of enthusiastic child-sized individuals.

* * *

On Mirio's end, he remembers activating his quirk and waiting a split second before deactivating it to build up some speed for his launch upwards. Then right as he did so, there was a loud splash. He had landed in water.

Very hot water.

He surfaced with a yelp and clambered out of the giant cauldron he found himself in, slightly singing his bare hands and feet on the hot metal. Conveniently landing near some large leaves, Mirio snatched them from the ground and preserved his modesty the best he could.

Getting up to his feet, he was about to look around to see the strange place he had found himself in, but froze at the scene in front of him, gazing at the cauldron he climbed out of. Surrounding the large black pot was almost a dozen bipedal creatures wearing helmets or masks staring right at him.

The tallest one was a few inches shorter than himself, but combined with their menacing headwear hiding their faces, it made for an intimidating sight.

Half of them appeared to have greenish skin and wore earth-colored masks that encompassed their entire head. Some white paint was applied to the masks and they vaguely resemble faces. Its shape also reminded Mirio of those pear-shaped squash vegetables.

_ Shakalaka. _

The other half of them had red skin and wore circular red tribal masks with different colored accents. A thick mane of red feathers extended from behind their masks and down to their waists, taking on the appearance of their hair.

_ Gajalaka. _

If there was one thing in common these two types of little creatures had other than their similar heights, it would be their giant masks the size of their own bodies.

Mirio had somehow by sheer coincidence landed in their giant cooking pot as they began heating up the water to boil some soup or stew, if the mushroom gardens and drying racks in this underground space was any indication.

Both parties stared at each other in anticipation.

One of the Shakalaka let out a high-pitched shriek and Mirio  _ booked it _ .

Izuku made his way through another crawlspace which led to the cooking chamber guided by a Shakalaka. He was met with the scene of his student holding a large leaf over his privates and leading a wild goose chase with the dagger-wielding  _ Lynians _ .

He blew a sharp whistle, alerting the chasers of his presence. All of them stopped what they were doing and started crowding him, as if Mirio didn’t exist. Speaking the Lynian language, Izuku explains his student’s circumstances with the Lynians.

As Mirio was changing into his gym clothes that Midoriya-sensei had tossed to him, all he could hear was his teacher speaking gibberish with the little people, who replied even more bizarrely.

He watched as Izuku waved his arm towards a patch of mushrooms, sending out a surge of bioenergy as compensation for the trouble. The Lynians immediately forgot about the previous incident and excitedly crowded over the enlarged mushrooms with intent to harvest them.

“Let’s get you out of here, shall we?” Said Izuku. Backtracking through the same path, Mirio experienced what it was like to crawl through narrow tunnels and he was led to the ‘main’ chamber, where most of the Lynians would congregate regardless of their species.

“The Mountain Zone is home to the Shakalaka and Gajalaka,” he explained. “In the event of an emergency, they’ll definitely show up ready for some action. It’s the same for each zone in the USJ. They serve as habitats for monsters, and in return for getting free homes, they oversee their respective zones.”

_ Monsters…  _ Mirio let that thought sink in.  _ He didn’t say that all of the zones were protected by the same little people. _

The two made their way to the entrance Izuku came in from. The young teacher turned to face one of the Gajalakas guiding them and asked in Lynian,  _ “Do neither chieftains want to exchange pleasantries and see me out?” _

The Gajalaka responded with a series of yelps and high-pitched cries. Izuku took a few seconds to process the response and finally nodded. “So they’re dueling in the combat chamber…  _ I see. Sorry for the disturbance, and goodbye for now! _ ”

Pretty much every Lynian in the underground village waved goodbye at them as they both crawled out from inside the cliff face. Once outside, they were greeted by a very concerned-looking Tamaki standing outside.

“What happened? Are you alright?” He asked his friend worriedly.

Mirio flashed a grin at Tamaki and said reassuringly, “No worries! I’m completely fine thanks to Midoriya-sensei!”

A breath of relief left Tamaki’s lips and he straightened his posture slightly as he faced Izuku. “Is… is the exercise still on?”

“Do you have a plan to carry me all the way up the cliff?” Izuku retorted simply, making the pair stiffen up.

Mirio told him about the initial plan involving Tamaki’s quirk, and the main flaw of it. Their teacher stroked his chin in thought after hearing the plan. “If that somehow worked and both of you were able to carry me up, I’d have considered that a successful rescue.”

Mirio gave a strained smile as he realized he was unable to pass this activity. “It seems we failed, huh…”

Izuku waved his hand in dismissal. “No need to worry about it. This type of scenario can be quite unfavorable for many heroes and their quirks. That’s why we’re not grading this exercise.”

The three of them walked up to a nearby metal ladder that led them up to the class. Obviously they were not allowed to use this during the actual exercise. As the three of them steadily made their way up the ladder, Mirio couldn’t help but ask, “Midoriya-sensei, is it possible for students like us that had an unfavorable quirk for the job to pass this exercise?”

“It’s possible,” Izuku replied without hesitation. “Just extremely unlikely for first years to be able to do it.”

Knowing that his two students must be curious, he elaborated, “There were trees nearby even on the top of this cliff, right? Maybe half a minute’s worth of walking distance. You may have already caught it, but there are many thick vines coiled around its branches and even trunk. If one could gather enough of it, they could directly use it as rope to climb up and down the cliff face, as long as they secure it by tightly wrapping the vine around one of the boulders. Then at the bottom of the cliff, there are more trees and in a closer proximity, too. With the branches, vines, and some first aid items that many heroes bring along in their costumes, one could make a primitive splint for the broken leg.”

Mirio and Tamaki nodded along as if they were being privately tutored by Midoriya-sensei, though technically they were.

“At this point, they would have surpassed my expectations and I’d have passed them already, but if you want to take a step further and bring me back up, then with sturdy enough branches and vines, it’s possible to make a sort of chair attached to your back and seat the victim on it as you carry them.”

By the time he finished, they had made it up to the rest of the class. The two felt rather enlightened, while Izuku was in a good mood.

_ It feels good to impress my students with all this throwaway knowledge I learnt from my teacher. Maybe he felt the same thing teaching it to me. _

After clarifying to Raku-sensei and Thirteen that there was no major incident, the exercise continued. By the end of it, Izuku and Thirteen demonstrated to the class about how to make a splint and the risks of making it completely out of the surrounding raw materials.

Like a wise man imparting his knowledge, Izuku couldn’t resist a chance to bestow upon his wisdom. “A number of you have experienced how it feels to be restrained by time when making an important decision. This is a regular occurrence in rescue situations, and more often than not, the pressure can lead to panic. So in these three years of schooling, you will learn how to prioritize your next actions, whether you want to comfort the victim first or spend a moment to plan out the entire rescue before carrying it out.”

* * *

“Alright, I believe we’ve spent enough time touring the Downpour Zone,” the homeroom teacher stated before barking out a laugh. “Let’s all hope you don’t get sick tomorrow!”

Indeed they hoped, as the class was absolutely drenched to the bone because of the heavy artificial rainfall.

“Why couldn’t they have just turned off the goddamned rain?” A student bemoaned.

Raku-sensei brushed them off, “Nothing to worry too much over. There are showers in the USJ and extra gym uniforms. Once you’ve had a change of clothes, we’ll be taking a close look at the final zone, the Flood Zone.”

As they made their way to the exit, someone paused in their tracks. A foreign female student with a quirk similar to Hound Dog’s caught a scent in the air, even through the heavy rain.

“Sensei… I smell… nice smell,” she managed to say with her limited vocabulary. A few curious eyes darted to her. “In… air… flower smell.”

Realization flashed in the eyes of their homeroom teacher and he cleared his throat. “That’s normal, nothing to worry about. I commend your keen sense of smell. I’m quite sure Hound Dog would have said the same.”

The girl blushed at the compliment, which only intensified when her impressive hearing picked up the giggles from her fellow classmates. They were all oblivious to the fact that their teacher had completely diverted and shut down the initial topic.

Izuku had walked slightly faster so that he was in front of the group while the other two supervisors kept watch of the class from behind. Thirteen was fully aware that their colleague walked to the front just to hide his ‘I know something you don’t’ look. Thirteen unnoticeably shook their head in exasperation and decided not to expose Izuku.

Exiting the Downpour Zone and making their way to the bathrooms, a student commented about something to his classmates, “Anyone realize there’s something weird going on with these zones? Kinda like those deep gashes in the concrete in the Ruins Zone.”

“Gashes? More like trenches! I wonder what kind of strong quirk that senpai has.”

“Oh, and the fire zone had some weird shallow holes on the ground too.”

“It’s called Conflagration Zone.”

“Of course, thank you for correcting me, but have you ever considered the possibility that I don’t give a-”

“The Landslide Zone too! There were some weirdly wide pits on the surface of the dirt, and our senseis even warned us to watch our step!”

“Don’t forget what happened in the Mountain Zone. Togata doesn’t want to share for some reason!”

“Then apparently there’s also a ‘flower smell’ in the Downpour Zone…”

Everyone’s gaze had unknowingly landed on Izuku’s back as he led the class. They had a collective thought:

_ Midoriya-sensei is hiding something from us! _

Izuku was pointedly not facing them now, hiding his 'I know everything while you know nothing' look. If principal Nedzu was allowed to act cryptic, why couldn’t he? Besides, he had once again taken a liking to certain types of anime and manga…

So he became really invested in the concept of dramatic reveals and timing.

Thirteen decided to help a friend out and announced to the class, “Here are the bathrooms! Get changed so we can wrap up our class by visiting the last zone!”

Izuku slipped away from the crowd and towards his fellow teachers. Breathing a sigh of relief, he patted Thirteen’s back and said, “Thanks.”

* * *

Arriving at the Flood Zone, there wasn’t much to see. That was because they were on the ground floor. Since they were only using the Flood Zone on another day, the class was much more laid-back. They climbed up the several flights of stairs and a few students complained on the way, but the higher they went, the more they understood why the teachers wanted them to make it all the way to the top.

When they made it to the highest and second highest floor, they were stunned speechless by the sight before them. Presented to their eyes was a bird’s eye view of not just the Flood Zone, but also the entire USJ. And even up such a tall platform, the size of everything else in the facility still brought a sense of grandeur.

Just like the moment they entered the USJ’s entrance, the class was struck with amazement. For the next few minutes, everyone settled into a peaceful atmosphere and just enjoyed the view.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

“Let’s get a move on, class. Sorry to say, but the session has come to an end. It’s time to get back to your homerooms,” said Thirteen. Following that was a few disappointed groans and exclamations.

This time, Raku-sensei and Thirteen led the group down the flights of stairs, while Izuku stayed behind to make sure every student was accounted for. One student in particular was unmoving, having stared deeply at the lake for a few minutes at that point.

Seeing that she was the only one not going down, Izuku approached her. “Hado, it’s time to go.”

Nejire turned to her teacher with wide blue eyes of wonder. “Sensei, there’s something moving underwater. Something big.”

Izuku only smiled. Lifting a finger to his lips, he said, “That’s a secret. But one day you may find out, so don’t go spreading what you saw, alright?”

Instead of being scared or anything of the sort, she smiled widely. “A secret? I’m good at secrets- oh!”

Nejire put a hand over her mouth, looking down the stairway to see if anyone heard her. Facing Izuku again, she pinched her thumb and index finger together and dragged it along her closed lips, performing the action of zipping her lips. The young teacher chuckled in amusement, following behind the inquisitive girl as she made her way down the stairs.

This was the first time a student didn’t react with fear of the shadow in the lake.

Though knowing what exactly it was, perhaps it was only rational to fear what lies in the depths of the Flood Zone’s waters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise the same consistency as last time, but I have quite a lot of free time now.
> 
> I won't be revealing all the other monsters in the USJ until canon happens, and any theories will not be confirmed nor denied ;)
> 
> There are no Elder Dragons in the USJ, just a heads up.
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Shakalaka: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Shakalaka  
> Gajalaka: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Gajalaka


	13. To Admire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I didn't expect this to take so long, but honestly speaking I got distracted by other fandoms and a whole other genre of writing. There was also the issue of me not really knowing what to write between the major plot points I set up in pre-canon.
> 
> So yeah, that's my excuse. As compensation for the long wait, here's the longest chapter so far!  
> Honestly I didn't plan for it to be almost 6000 words long.
> 
> Enjoy.

Walking down a shopping mall leisurely with nary a worry in the world was Izuku, with a destination in mind. It was a Sunday afternoon, and the teacher with the freest decision of his class schedule had very little paperwork to deal with annually.

Unless he wanted to make a large-scale and permanent arrangement in UA, in which case he would seek help from Nedzu on dealing with the hefty paperwork given by the Commission, he rarely had to write anything. Izuku also needed to state his plans down to the smallest details to submit to the head honchos of the Board of Hero Education or whatever they’re called. After signing that contract, he had less privacy than he would have desired.

But it’s not all bad.

At least the Board and Hero Commission approved his request for improving security measures in the USJ without any questions. They probably thought that they might as well humor Izuku since there had never been an attack on the USJ since its founding.

If they had asked upfront about the reason he wanted to have monsters guarding the USJ’s interior, Izuku would have honestly replied that it was because it just seemed really fitting. The zones looked too much like habitats for him to pass up the opportunity. Even if it meant he had to dedicate every Sunday morning to travel to the USJ and feed them bioenergy to their fill.

At least the Rajang could get some cardio out of carrying him to his destination.

Thanks to the contract, he had full ownership of every single monster spawned from his ‘quirk’. While that didn’t stop their researchers from paying visits to the school to collect discarded tissue samples from the monsters, they could only do so because Izuku gave permission. Otherwise, he would just show through his actions why going against him would be a bad idea.

Something caught his eye and he found the shop he was looking for.

It was an instrument store. A string instrument store to be more precise. The sliding glass doors parted upon sensing a presence. Izuku entered with a smile.

Glancing around the store interior, he took in the collection of string instruments out on display. After taking a moment to marvel at them, he set his sights on the section with the cellos.

Picking out the most expensive one, he asked a store employee, “May I try out a few notes?”

“As long as you actually know how to play it, sure.” They replied simply.

Nodding gratefully, he pulled up a chair that was placed conveniently nearby and sat himself down on it. Extending the pin in the bottom end of the cello, he set the pin on the ground as he placed the instrument between his knees. Letting its upper body rest against his chest, he received a bow from the store employee to give the cello a go.

He tested a few notes before frowning. After asking for permission once more, he tuned the cello and played the notes until he was satisfied. He began playing the beginnings of a beautiful tune…

Then he stopped halfway and nodded in satisfaction, much to the dismay and disappointment of the window-shoppers-turned-spectators.

One might be wondering where Izuku learned to play a cello. He was indeed a fast learner, but he wasn’t some kind of musical genius.

All of these skills were learned in his other life, and if he wasn’t teaching in UA or relaxing, he would spend his free time honing those skills.

Embarrassed as he would be to admit, he only knew how to play a single song. To play the complete version, it needed another string instrument that this store unfortunately didn’t sell. He learned to play both instruments in the New World after hearing that heavenly music one day being played.

Izuku would listen for hours on end after some particularly stressful days and one day decided he wanted to learn how to play it.

So that’s how it came to be. He didn’t happen to pick up a cello as a hunter and then suddenly realized he was a prodigy. It was a slow process, just to learn that one song.

It was time well spent.

From the corner of his vision, he saw another customer enter. He paid the newcomer no heed and carried the cello and bow to the relatively large counter.

“Do you know anywhere that sells harps?” Izuku asked the cashier with genuine curiosity, prompting one of their eyebrows to rise.

“Not in this mall, that’s for sure,” the cashier said plainly, hovering the barcode reader over the tag hanging off the cello’s strings which contained the barcode. “You can’t find them just anywhere. Not many people buy them anyway either. Honestly, I recommend you just order one to be custom made.”

Izuku kept the advice in mind and subconsciously raised his guard. Something in the air felt… off.

* * *

Hearing what was unmistakably a cello or violin being played thanks to her quirk, Kyoka decided to take a quick detour from doing her chores to find the source of the sound.

She was slightly disappointed that the cellist didn’t play a full song, but she at least located a store for string instruments, much to her surprise.

“I don’t remember seeing this store before…” Kyoka muttered to herself. “Then again, I don’t come to this part of the mall often.”

While her current guitar was fine as it was and she wasn’t planning on replacing it anytime soon, she still wanted to take a look. Admire some ‘fresh’ guitars, as strange as that sounded.

With a hand occupied by a plastic bag full of essentials and a shopping list, Kyoka entered the store through its sliding glass doors.

What caught her attention first was a boy with messy dark green hair tied in a ponytail about her age hauling a big cello to the shop counter.

_Must have been the one playing the cello._

Her gaze didn’t linger for long as she turned to inspect the section of the store that displayed the guitars.

After Kyoka’s moment of recreation was satisfied and there was nothing in here that she wanted to buy, she turned to leave.

Then there was an explosion.

Her body recoiled harshly in pain and fright at the loud noise as she almost tripped backwards. The other window-shoppers in the music store were not the only ones in visible distress. The whole section west of the mall was thrown into a panic, which was pretty much an entire half of the mall.

A few seconds passed, and the people inside the store were able to recover enough from the initial shock to attempt to exit.

And Kyoka was still on the ground, too scared to get up from her kneeling position. She had an urge to cry for help, but either for better or for worse, nothing came out of her mouth.

All of a sudden, the hurried footsteps stopped in their tracks. She looked up, and her fear increased tenfold.

A large man with a gun in hand blocked their exit. It was just one person, yet he seemed to tower over everyone else in the room.

“Get down on the ground and throw out your valuables to me!” He yelled, jolting many people to do as he said. Kyoka was about to do the same, albeit with shaky limbs and a lot of hesitation, but this was a life-or-death situation.

Perhaps if this was only a simple mugging, she would have been able to fight back with her quirk and her desire to be a hero. It wasn’t very hero-like to break down and cry in the face of a villain.

Kyoka was a brave girl. Much braver than the average person her age. But not only was the initial explosion absolutely deafening thanks to her quirk, the pain it caused to her ears completely shattered what little courage she could muster.

And Kyoka was only thirteen. What was the young daughter of two musicians supposed to do in the face of a mall heist led by no small number of villains?

 _Please… somebody, anybody…_ She pleaded in her heart as tears blurred her vision. _Save me!_

“Oi, kid, did you hear me? Get down on the ground and give me your money!” The man shouted again.

Fearing that the kid in question was her, Kyoka rubbed the tears away as quickly as she could and looked at the villain. The villain wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were directed nowhere near her.

She unconsciously turned her head to find out who the villain was looking at, just as her quirk picked up a much quieter voice from the counter that couldn’t be heard by anyone except for her and whoever was by the counter.

The boy with the long messy hair in a ponytail that barely helped keep the curls in control remained standing, seemingly not even acknowledging the villain in the slightest. He asked the crouching cashier behind the counter something that filled Kyoka with bewilderment.

“Will I get a discount if I get rid of this villain?” Greenie asked in a whisper, and there was a pause. It must have been the employee giving him a bewildered look, similar to herself.

“W-what?” The cashier managed to utter in response.

The villain’s loud voice cut through the air once more, “Hey kid, you deaf and blind or something? If you don’t do what I said, then I won’t hesitate to shoot you!”

Again, he was ignored. The boy with no fear continued in a hushed voice, “I asked if I could get a discount for beating up the villain.”

This time the cashier gave a proper answer. “I-It’s not up to m-me to decide t-t-the prices.”

Greenie sighed in disappointment.

 _That_ was heard throughout the entire store.

A few moments passed, and the villain appeared to be in a stunned silence. A large vein bulged from his forehead and with heavy steps, he walked right up to the boy. He gripped his large hand on his target’s shoulder and forcefully turned the boy to face him.

“Now who the hell do you think you are-”

Almost as if something was caught up in his throat, the villain stopped speaking. His eyes widened. His pupils dilated. His body trembled not so subtly.

Kyoka didn’t need to be an expert in reading faces to know what recognition looked like.

And _terror_.

“It’s a small world isn’t it, mister?”

* * *

How could Azai have known that he was meeting the scariest person he knew when he took up the offer to participate in the heist?

Rob a shopping mall, they said. It’s easier to get to the money than robbing the bank, they said. Just depend on a certain someone’s quirk to escape, they said.

Azai thought he’d seen that shade of green before. But because of the difference in hair length, height, and body physique, he paid it no mind.

Looking into this kid’s familiar cold sapphire eyes, it was truly a small world.

He just wanted to take some Trigger for the first time at the end of the deal.

Izuku stared as the familiar mugger from over a year ago stood in place, paralyzed in fear. He began, “Azai Yotsu, sentenced to nine months in jail and three months on probation. You’ve never actually killed anyone, but it seems you plan on crossing that line today?”

The villain stuttered, trying to say something, but nothing came to mind.

“I must say, I am supremely disappointed by this series of events. I thought I’d taught you a thing or two about the consequences of being a villain… but it appears that my teachings weren’t thorough enough. I suppose I’ll refresh your memory by giving you a harsher lesson.”

Izuku’s eyes _glowed_ , and Azai _broke down_.

“Please don’t hurt me! No more! I regret taking up this job. If it means I might run into you at every corner, I may as well choose to never wake up from my nightmares!” Practically prostrating on the ground, the man _begged_ , much to the shock of the onlookers.

“Hey mister…” Azai slowly looked up to feel a twinge of familiarity, seeing Izuku’s sapphire eyes looking down on him like he was an insect. **“I don’t think I believe you.”**

Before he could devolve into more desperate begging, another person entered the scene. “Hey big bro, what’s the hold up-”

The new villain, with a much smaller frame compared to Azai ceased his walking. The sliding glass doors sensed his presence and slid open.

By the time the sliding doors opened fully, ‘little bro’ already had an idea of what was going on here. He immediately pulled up his own handgun and pointed the barrel at Izuku.

“Stop whatever you’re doing to big bro or I’ll shoot,” he ordered firmly.

Izuku spared a glance at the newcomer's direction and pressed his lips into a line. He took out a wallet from his pocket and dug through it. Ignoring the threat, he read the price of his cello that was on display after the barcode was scanned.

“H-hey! I said let him go! Right this instant!” ‘Little bro’ ordered again. There was a stutter.

_Another pushover. Just like his ‘big bro’._

Pulling up a wad of cash from his wallet, he placed the stack of yen notes on the counter as he muttered, “That should be the exact cost.”

Izuku settled a hand on the large instrument’s strings. His fingers curled around the cello’s neck.

“A-alright! Don’t blame me for what happens when I-”

Faster than anyone could react, Izuku swung around, sending the cello flying. The bottom of the instrument impacted _hard_ against ‘little bro’s’ face. There was a crack, and Izuku couldn’t tell if that came from his target’s nose or his cello.

Probably both.

The heavy instrument hit the ground about the same time as the villain, who was knocked completely out cold. Everyone in the store gawked at the sight- including Azai.

Izuku clicked his tongue as he walked up to the unmoving body. “Definitely a broken nose right there. Hopefully he doesn’t get a concussion. That was a pretty strong blow.”

He turned to Azai. “Besides, weren’t you the one who said something about ‘throwing my valuables’?”

Picking up the handgun from the ground, he found out that while it was loaded, the safety pin was still on. Izuku audibly expressed his surprise. “So it was on safety mode the whole time! I had a hunch, but I didn’t think you two would be so scared of shooting anyone.”

“Actually…” Azai shakily raised a finger. “My gun… isn’t-”

**“Thank you for letting me know, mister.”**

His breathing hitched and he shut right up.

Izuku picked up his cello to see that it was still intact, but the damage done had most likely significantly affected the quality of the instrument negatively. He shook his head and spoke up, “Azai Yotsu, you’re coming with me to assist with taking out your coworkers.”

“U-um, I think I’d rather just-”

“It wasn’t a request.” Izuku’s eyes glowed and the man stood up immediately, gun in hand but not daring to point it at anyone.

Kyoka watched with wide eyes and awe as Izuku walked out of the store, the cello's neck in hand and its body resting on his shoulder, being followed closely behind by a large man who dared not even think about defying his captor.

_We were in the presence of a real hero…_

* * *

After the chaos and arrival of almost a dozen heroes from all over, all the villains were either captured or had escaped through a means of a peculiar quirk. Witness reports stated that they saw a villain knock three times in rapid succession on a door and opened the door to be greeted by a dark room.

Viewing the recordings of some of the security cameras, the police witnessed as a villain with a moderately sized cloth bag of cash knocked on one of the staff-only doors spread across several locations of the mall. After knocking it three times under a second, the villain opened the door which clearly led to a pitch black area that looked nothing like anywhere in the mall.

A Pro-Hero had experimented going through the same procedure only to see that opening the door yielded no desirable results.

There were twenty-two villains in total, eight of which were able to escape through the strange door quirk as caught on the security cameras.

That brought up the puzzling nature of this heist. It was clear to see that the participants of the robbery were no big named villains and were just overambitious individuals hoping for a big payday by the end of it.

Who orchestrated the heist? Was it the one with the door quirk? Or someone else behind the scenes? What could they have offered to convince so many villains to participate in such a risky operation?

A positively wrecked cello by his feet, Izuku sat himself down on a chair that just happened to be nearby as he was held back by a few police officers that didn’t recognize him. Instead of pulling out his license and potentially getting accused for fraud, he waited for a person he _did_ know personally.

“Midoriya? What are you doing here? You’re not wearing your hero costume, so it doesn’t seem like you took part in this.” A familiar voice asked him, and Izuku turned to look at one of his closer acquaintances.

Tsukauchi Naomasa approached him with his signature hat and trench coat. There was an inquisitive look on his somewhat plain face.

“You’re a detective, why don’t you figure out yourself why I’m stuck here?” Izuku shot back playfully.

“Stuck…?” Tsukauchi donned an expression of confusion for a few seconds before coming to a realization. “You’re being detained? Why didn’t you just show them your license?” 

Izuku simply shrugged. “I didn’t mind waiting for you. Let’s talk a bit.”

The detective nodded curtly after a moment of surprise. “You must be referring to today’s events.”

“Of course. I’m a bit puzzled over the true objective of this operation. You’d think the mastermind behind this should be quite wealthy to be able to sway so many petty criminals, but all they did was rob a shopping mall? And the villains were terrible at working together, too.” Izuku voiced his thoughts.

“Well, from what I heard from another detective when I had just arrived, apparently every single villain recruited was promised a big payment of a whole suitcase of Trigger if they managed to escape with enough money.” Tsukauchi recounted what he had heard.

Izuku scoffed in disdain, “Then these _villains_ are incompetent and easy to manipulate. Did they not even think about how expensive a whole suitcase of Trigger is? It’s nothing a few cash register’s worth of money can buy. If their means of escape wasn’t so convenient, I doubt even one of them could walk out of the place without cuffs.”

Tsukauchi nodded in agreement. “There’s bound to be something bigger at play behind the scenes. But in any case, you must be quite busy with your responsibilities in UA. It’s best you let me and the other Pro-Heroes handle this case.”

Izuku stood up with a huff, his good mood for the day long gone. “I will. Unless it involves UA or its students, I’d much rather do my job as a teacher for the younger generation than jump into a long-term operation which would cost a lot of my free time.”

“Alright, I’ll see you next time. We should sit down sometime to have an actual conversation,” Tsukauchi said with a smile. “I’ll be sure to explain your circumstances to the ones who detained you.”

“Ah, one more question,” Izuku stopped the detective for a moment. “As you may have already been told, eight villains escaped via a door quirk. Based on the quirk’s description, do you recognize it perchance? Has there been a case in the past involving this quirk?”

Tsukauchi stared at Izuku for a few moments, as if searching through his memories for a reply. Finally, he answered, “... Yes, but it was an isolated case. From… what I remember, a civilian had reported that they saw a masked man enter through a door, and the other side was completely different than what the civilian had seen before.”

Izuku tilted his head and cupped his chin in thought. “Is that so… Well alright then, goodbye for now. Yes, I do agree that we should sit down for coffee or tea sometime just to talk.”

Both of them bid each other farewell and Tsukauchi waved at him with a smile on his face as Izuku walked out of sight.

Then his smile fell.

The detective shook his head, muttering to himself, “I didn’t want to lie to you Midoriya… but you would have picked up on something if I said no. This is something I can’t, in my good conscience, involve a good person like you in.”

* * *

Izuku turned a corner, leaving Tsukauchi’s sight. He frowned immediately after.

“Tsukauchi… you think fast, but did you think I wouldn’t catch that lie?” He said to himself.

He was observant. Always had been. When the detective was telling Izuku about the ‘isolated case’, it felt as if he was actively trying to maintain eye contact. On Izuku’s end, it felt like he was purposefully being stared down on.

Why would Tsukauchi try so hard to maintain eye contact if he was being truthful? There was also the abnormal pause before his answer. The intensity in his eyes looked more like he was trying to think up a convincing story instead of simply trying to remember something in the past.

Tsukauchi was a detective. Throughout the years in service, he had met many interesting individuals and his experience had taught him a thing or two about psychology and the minds of villains.

However, his bluff was still easily seen through.

Tsukauchi was a detective with superior ‘deduction’ skills, whereas Izuku was a monster hunter with superior ‘observation’ skills.

Tsukauchi ‘deduced’ the best course of action was to lie, whereas Izuku ‘observed’ his facial features and body language to notice the lie.

Izuku stopped walking and tilted his head up slightly. “Well… I did say I wasn’t about to participate if it didn’t involve UA, so… you lucked out this time, Tsukauchi.”

He sighed and was about to continue walking, but something or someone tapped his shoulder. He casually turned around.

And the one who caught his attention was a purple-haired girl about his body’s age about half a head shorter than him. There appeared to be an earphone jack attached to each of her earlobes. Izuku tilted his head down slightly and almost instinctively smiled warmly. “Well, hello there. I’m glad to see you’re unharmed. My name is Midoriya Izuku, may I know yours?”

The girl, who did not expect Izuku to be so direct, floundered a bit trying to form her words. “M-my name is Jirou Kyoka!”

Before Izuku could say anything else, she bowed down a full ninety degrees, much to his surprise.

“And… I just wanted to thank you for saving me- us!” She said loudly, but not loud enough to cause a scene.

He raised an eyebrow upon seeing this young lady express her gratitude so audibly. It wasn’t everyday a hero was thanked so personally for his job, but Izuku supposed no one here knew he actually was a Pro-Hero. Even so, he humbly replied, “Think nothing of it. As long as you’re safe, then I was at the right place at the right time.”

Kyoka’s admiration for him grew, but so did her hesitation in saying her next words. She got up from bowing, but her gaze was still towards the ground.

“I… wanted to ask… if someone like me could be a hero? I… couldn’t even do anything to help… because I was scared. I was so scared for my life. How can I possibly be… a hero?” She still didn’t look up as she played with her fingers. Taking a breath, Kyoka continued, “A-and also! I was selfish. I kept pleading for some to save _me_ , and only me. I forgot about the other innocent people around me that were in the same position. I just feel that… maybe I’m better off not-”

She felt something land on her head, and she stopped talking. Slowly looking forward, she realized that it was the hand of the boy across from her.

Izuku was patting her head softly.

“Jirou Kyoka,” he started with a tone soothing to the ears. “To admit and acknowledge your faults. That shows you are strong.”

“Coming all this way to thank me. That shows you are kind.”

“Bowing down while doing so. That shows you are courteous.”

“Thinking yourself to be in the wrong for not actively caring about the people around you. That shows you have potential to be selfless.”

“I think you would make an excellent hero. What you’re missing is resolve. You’ve yet to cement your decision to become a hero, so you were easily swayed from that path because of what happened today. But even so…”

Looking into his eyes, Kyoka had not thought that blue, a color normally associated with coldness, could feel so warm and caring. She almost teared up in relief.

“It’s only natural to feel fear in the face of a real threat. Only through training and gathering experience can heroes put up a brave front when faced with the most dangerous of villains.”

“ … Does that mean you also get scared?” She couldn’t help but ask him.

Izuku broke eye contact, his gaze directed somewhere else. His eyes had a distant look to them. “Yeah…”

Looking back to Kyoka, his smile was a bit different. It felt… serene. “I, too, have experienced freezing up in fear before.”

Before she could say anything more, Izuku took his hand off her head and grinned good-naturedly. “Let’s not forget, you’re still young! You have a lot of time ahead of you to think these things over, Jirou. Just know that becoming a Pro-Hero comes with serious ups and downs, both of which will undoubtedly fill your head with unforgettable memories both happy and sad.”

“Besides, which hero school did you plan on enrolling in?” Asked Izuku.

A bit flustered over the quick change in topic, she replied with a stutter, “A-ah, UA would be my first choice.”

“Is that so?” He took a step back, indicating he was about to leave. “If you do decide to become a Pro-Hero, then I’d be glad to show you around UA.”

As Kyoka stared at his retreating back, she blinked upon processing the last sentence. “Show me…?”

Like a bolt from the blue, realization struck her. _He’s been to UA before!_

“A-a senpai?!” Kyoka blurted out a fair bit louder than she desired. She had her suspicions, but that confirmed it. “Eh? Where did he…”

Izuku, who had scurried off the moment she shouted, laughed to himself. Taking a moment to calm down, he voiced his thoughts to himself, “Senpai? It may soon be sensei for you.”

He walked off with a smile on his face and his good mood restored. Now where could he buy himself a new cello…

Seeing that Izuku had somehow disappeared from sight, Kyoka calmed herself. Remembering the sequence of events that happened from the moment she chose to talk to him, she raised both of her hands up to her head where Izuku’s hand had patted her.

And she smiled.

* * *

In another location that isn’t Musutafu, eight people sat or stood around in a dimly lit and very much _underground_ chamber.

They were the eight villains that managed to escape through the doors to this dubious location. One of them was the one and only Azai Yotsu, who managed to slip away from Izuku’s sight after one of the nearby villains went absolutely ballistic, providing a distraction.

_Holy shit I managed to get out of there fully intact._

He was still sweating at the thought. _Kid’s gonna tear me apart the next time he sees me… but worth it!_

This foolish man that had no self-preservation skills named Azai Yotsu had a truly thick skull.

A villain spoke up, breaking the silence, “Hey… have you guys ever wondered how legit this payment is? Like, a whole suitcase of Trigger for some money we stole from the mall?”

Another villain was about to speak up in objection, but stopped himself. Then he mused out loud, “That’s… a good point. This is just too good to be true, isn’t it?”

“We were manipulated.” The largest and most intimidating villain out of the bunch uttered out deeply and gruffly. “It would take an idiot to actually agree to this deal, yet look at us.”

“Must be the work of a quirk. How about if we feel that something is wrong, we work together and destroy whatever nefarious plans they have with us and get the hell out?” Another villain suggested.

“To hell with waiting around,” the big one growled. “I’m getting out of here right now. You either come with me, or you don’t.”

Upon seeing all this unfold, Azai naturally had to interject, “Hold on, you’re going now? We haven’t even seen if the deal was genuine or not! You can afford to take the risk right? High risk high reward!”

By saying the dumbest thing he could have said at that moment.

He received a glare from the villain bigger than himself. “I’ve always seen you to be a pushover. It seems you are also a fool that is easily manipulated.”

Azai sputtered indignantly, “You- you- you want a fight or something? Because that’s how you start one you damn gorilla-”

Suddenly, everything returned to being silent. Azai, who was about to walk up the subject of his ire and start a brawl froze up. He uncharacteristically shut his mouth, and so did every other villain in the room.

Footsteps. It became louder and clearer as their employer made their way closer to their position from one of the tunnels.

Instantly, the villains’ thoughts of fighting their way out were dashed. There wasn’t just one set of footsteps. There were countless.

“Noisy.” A cold and feminine voice said.

The first one to step into the dim lighting was a woman whose face was hidden under a black cloak. Other than a slim figure, her garments covered up her entire body, concealing any distinguishable features.

By the second step, multiple other people were exposed to the light. By the time their employer stopped walking and had every villain recruit in her sight, nearly twenty cloaked individuals flanked her on both sides and behind her like silent bodyguards.

Some of them had mutation quirks, some of them didn’t. One thing every one of the bodyguards had in common was a black cloak hiding their faces.

Every villain straightened themselves and stood a careful distance across from their employers, Azai included.

With the same cold voice, she ordered, “Verify the goods.”

Like some sort of robot, one of the bodyguards stepped out and walked up to the bags of cash. Sifting through the contents, they replied hoarsely, “It’s all cash.”

A chill collectively ran down the spines of the eight villains. Those three words were spoken with such little… emotion.

It sounded lifeless.

“At least eight of you were not complete idiots and managed to escape. You must be waiting for your reward.” She said, prompting another one of her guards in the back to step out, suitcase in hand. They opened it with a click and revealed the five syringes of Trigger lined up inside.

It was technically a suitcase full. But the villains were in no mood to argue about false promises.

“Only one person can be rewarded a day. The rest of you will stay here until it’s your turn. My-”

The intimidating one interrupted her, “You either pay up right now or I’m waltzing right out of your little base and out of whatever scheme you’ve got involving me.”

Their employer turned to him. Then she spoke up, “I **suggest** you follow my orders, ape.”

The atmosphere turned tenser, and he bared his teeth in fury-

And his body shook for a moment.

Before calming himself down and saying, “Of course, I was acting out of line. I guess your arrangement isn’t that unreasonable.”

It was almost as if the man forgot all of his previous pent up aggression. Now no one dared to speak up out of fear.

No one except for Azai, of course.

“Hey, hey! I dunno what you did to that gorilla, but I am not staying here overnight! You’ve already got the suitcase right there, right? So give it to me!” He angrily exclaimed.

She turned to face him. Even though Azai couldn’t see her eyes from the shadow of the cloak, the hairs on the back of his neck still stood on its ends. Cold sweat cascaded down his back anew. He could only think of one thing.

_She’s still not as scary as the blue-eyed kid._

“Since you’re so against staying…” she finally spoke up through the silence. “Then you shall be the one being rewarded first.”

Ignoring the wide-eyed looks she was receiving from her employed villains, she continued where she left off previously, “My followers will escort you to your temporary place of stay. Behave… or else.”

Any chance of protest died out the moment she uttered the last line. The other seven villains were led away by two followers each. One leading and one following a single person.

Azai watched them walk away without another word and turned back to the open suitcase in one of the followers’ arms.

“Since we might work together in the future… then it’s only fair I show my face.” She said with the same cold tone full of disdain.

Hearing her words, Azai suppressed the urge to laugh darkly.

_Creepy bitch, if we meet again I may as well sic that green kid on you, regardless of what he does to me first!_

She pulled up the hood of her cloak and their eyes met.

And his vision faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If original characters are a turn off for you...
> 
> Power through it! I want you to stick with me in this journey all the way to canon! Then we can all experience dadzuku in its fullest potential!
> 
> Besides, I already have quite a few events lined up...


	14. Eventful Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's another longest chapter boys. 6.2k+ words this time.  
> Didn't really expect that.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Dull taps, like a stick poking against solid rock came rhythmically amongst the many footsteps, making the sound very easy to discern from the crowd.

Who could it be other than Ectoplasm and his prosthetic legs?

His appearance attracted some stares from the civilians, which wasn’t a surprise since he was in costume. At least they weren’t crowding him. After all, it was business as usual to see the Pro-Hero walk down this street during the weekdays, heading towards UA.

Although he would be lying if he said he didn’t like the times people, regardless of age, came up to him and asked for an autograph.

As for why he didn’t just take public transportation to reach the school quicker, he simply believed it to be better to reach his destinations on foot despite his disability.

The ensuing explosion that occurred on the side of the street was a good enough reason for him to don his costume before actually arriving in UA. Since it was early in the morning, there weren’t too many pedestrians walking about and the explosion came from a shop that had yet to open up for business for the day. Even so, many civilians were blown back by the shockwave, causing them to sustain minor injuries.

Acting quickly, Ectoplasm spewed out clones one after another, thinking over his next course of action after he was satisfied with the number of clones.

Due to the suddenness of the attack, many drivers swerved their cars with a bit too much force, which was just a recipe for disaster. The first car crashed, then the second, then the third, and it was clear to see that many more would follow in the next several seconds.

Even worse was when a whole truck carrying a heavy load on its back tipped over on its side in all the chaos.

The perpetrator walked out of the smoke of the explosion, having no particularly eye-catching features other than the burlap sack over their heads to mask their face.

Behind Ectoplasm’s mask, his face soured. He knew this villain.

“Him again?” He cursed under his breath.

Trying to look through the eyeholes of the sack around the villain’s head, Ectoplasm remembered the villain that was active for a few years already, never to be caught by the heroes.

The crazy villain with a self-detonation quirk that didn’t harm himself, ‘Mad Bomber’.

“Stupid name for a stupid villain… have the heroes really been reduced to being unable to capture a madman such as him?” Ectoplasm seemed to scold himself. After setting the priorities in his head, he carried out the next course of action.

Sweeping his gaze over the twenty-four created clones, Ectoplasm began giving out orders, “Two for the truck driver, eight for the civilians injured by the shockwave, ten for the drivers in the crashed cars, four with me to pursue the villain.”

The mad villain made a dash for the alleys and the team of Ectoplasms followed hot on his trail.

Every few months this ‘Mad Bomber’ would blow up somewhere indoors, catching everyone by surprise and causing heavy collateral damage to the place. His goals remained largely unknown and no one knows exactly how his quirk worked. The heroes and the police acknowledged this person as an actual madman who needed to be put in an asylum or worse.

The fact that the villain was able to escape from the scene only to be never seen again for a few months led many to believe that he was not alone in his operations, but there had yet to be concrete evidence supporting this.

“Stop right there, villain!” Ectoplasm shouted. To nobody’s surprise, he did not stop.

The villain was quite swift, so there was a distance between him and Ectoplasm's group. The bomber made an abrupt turn over a corner and the hero was only able to reach the same spot a few seconds later to find out that his target had seemingly vanished into thin air.

Stifling the displeasure in his heart, he quickly made six more clones, which was his limit. Addressing the ten clones by his side, Ectoplasm commanded, “Sweep the area! Mad Bomber likely has memorized the layout of the network of alleyways, so we’ll best him with numbers!”

His clones immediately scattered like a squad of trained soldiers. A Pro-hero’s first priority was undoubtedly to ensure the safety of the innocent, so instead of searching with them, the original decided to return to the scene of the crime.

Looking at the unfolded chaos upon arrival, Ectoplasm couldn’t help but feel a headache bubbling up. At the very least, his clones were doing a good job at their tasks. A voice caught his attention and Ectoplasm turned to the truck driver his two clones pulled from the truck that had tipped over to its side. The man looked more dejected than frightened of the situation.

“Not again… boss won’t be happy with me for this,” the delivery guy sighed, downcast.

“That seems a bit unreasonable.”

The guy sobered up, noticing himself standing face to face with a Pro-hero in the flesh. The original one, too, not one of the clones.

“It was an unprompted villain attack that no one could have predicted. It would be unfair for your manager to take out their anger on a victim,” Ectoplasm continued.

“E-Ectoplasm, sir!” He stuttered for a moment before being reminded of the tragic event that was awaiting him. The delivery guy let out another sigh. “Haih, I’m afraid it’s not that easy. After all, not all clients are so forgiving when it comes to a late delivery.”

“Even if it was caused by a villain?” Ectoplasm questioned.

“Well… the company I work for is big enough to guarantee these kinds of stuff, which is a given. After all, the company can’t grow if the boss keeps giving out excuses for incidents hindering their operations, regardless of whether or not it could have been prevented,” the man explained in low spirits. “And when things like this happen, there’s a policy to follow, for compensation to the client. In this case, a huge discount.”

Ectoplasm nodded mutely. He wasn’t really expecting a crash course on managing a business, but here he was.

“Even so, the client has all the right to complain to the boss, and how can the boss be so shameless as to blame their employees? So on the surface, the fault is ultimately theirs, but once I get back, boss is gonna rip me a new one,” he finished.

“ … Right,” said Ectoplasm, turning his head to look at the progress of his clones. Most of what he heard went in one ear and out the other, so if he wanted to know more then he’d ask one of the business course teachers. “Tell you what.”

He turned back to the delivery guy. “Maybe I can help you. Where were you planning on delivering all this… canned food?”

Jesus Christ that’s a lot of canned food. The smell of spam was starting to permeate the air.

“Ah… Hachioji, Tokyo. To a local company that runs a huge convenience store there,” the guy replied.

“Tokyo… that’s quite far. Alright, while I won’t be able to try and convince your client to go easy on your employer, I can at least try and talk your manager out of punishing you for this,” Ectoplasm made a compromise with himself.

“Really?!” The delivery guy was ecstatic. “Thanks, Ectoplasm sir!”

“No need to thank me. I’m just doing my job as a hero and helping people, no matter how small the matter,” he responded humbly.

Standing around in wait, the hero sighed inwardly upon realizing his ten clones could not even catch another glimpse of the perpetrator of today’s events. Pulling out his phone, he called UA to inform the school of his absence and requested for a substitute for his classes.

It just so happened one particular teacher with green hair was more than happy to stand in as a substitute math teacher for class 1-A.

* * *

_Tak, tak, tak._

The sounds of a chalk coming into contact with a blackboard could be heard periodically, piercing through the relative silence of the class.

It was supposed to be math class, but Izuku was there instead, watched by an enraptured class 1-A as his hand danced across the blackboard, chalk between his fingers. He was drawing something of his past life, though all of the students were none the wiser.

This wasn’t monster hunting school, so he wasn’t about to force the class to do work when he was just a substitute teacher.

Within just a few minutes, Izuku finished drawing a detailed illustration of a familiar monster.

Even if it wasn’t drawn to scale, it gave a feeling of immensity. Bipedal with its head and tail on the same elevation, its skin appeared to be harder than stone, even if it was only drawn with chalk. Numerous cylindrical protrusions lined its back, from the top of its head to the end of its tail. The monster had large legs and small arms, but a particular detail seemed to stand out other than the protrusions.

Its lower jaw was massive compared to its upper jaw, and made up over half of the monster’s face. It also had small eyes.

Easily garnering the attention of the class, Izuku began talking about its ecology. “This one… a behemoth that commonly lives in volcanic regions, with some spanning up to thirty whole meters in length. Its chin is actually the toughest part of its body, with the monster being able to use it to crush the sturdiest rocks into powder. In its juvenile stages it eats plants and tree leaves, but as they grow older, they develop an appetite for rocks and various minerals.”

The students watched with starstruck expressions at the impressive beast, paying close attention to Izuku as if he was teaching a class everyone had collectively agreed to be the most interesting.

Most likely, that was the case.

 _Reminds me of old times_ , he reminisced, face neutral.

Izuku noticed that Nejire was energetically waving her arm up and about. “Yes, Hado?”

“That’s really cool, but what is it called?!” She asked enthusiastically, standing up from her seat slightly.

Without pausing, Izuku answered with a smile, “Burst Hammer Wyvern, _Uragaan_.”

“Wow~” Nejire wasn’t afraid to audibly express her amazement. “You draw like a pro, sensei!”

“That’s the seventh time you’ve told me today, but thank you all the same, Hado,” said Izuku.

“Sensei, what are the things on its back?” The question came from Mirio, who shared the same curiosity as most of his fellow classmates. They wanted to see how far their teacher had expanded on these creatures, unaware that the Uragaan had truly existed for Izuku to reference from.

“Good question! Those protrusions are something like hardened crystals that the Uragaan can shed at any time, either when it feels threatened or it just falls off naturally.” Izuku pondered over his next words for a few moments before snapping his fingers and speaking again, “These crystals are covered in a type of oil and the rock itself is prone to exploding under vibration, so they’re very dangerous.”

Mirio nodded, satisfied with the answer and also very impressed by such a defense mechanism. He thought of something and spoke his theory aloud, “Since the crystals won’t blow up by itself but it’s sensitive to vibration, can the monster slam its chin on the ground to produce a tremor intense enough for it to explode?”

Izuku grinned widely. “Yes it can! In fact, it’s very normal for Uragaan to weaponize the crystals in such a fashion. I’m surprised you were able to guess something like that so quickly, Togata.”

Mirio averted his eyes slightly, a bit embarrassed by the attention he was getting. Even some of his classmates got in on praising him.

Looking at how close the class was and how quickly they’ve made acquaintances with each other, Izuku couldn’t suppress the happiness in his heart, nor did he want to.

Another student asked him a question, “Sensei, how many of these monsters did you create?”

Hearing that, Izuku gave it a bit of thought before answering with a tone of slight uncertainty, “Way over a hundred, give or take.”

The chatter in the class increased, and some students couldn’t help but exclaim in awe and throw in their two cents.

“Midoriya sensei, with your drawing skills you could become an artist or something!”

“Artist? That’s boring. Sensei could be a mangaka with how quickly he draws!”

“Definitely! With so many monsters and a whole world he’s created, sensei could definitely make an awesome manga.”

Hearing all these suggestions, Izuku chuckled a bit in amusement. His next words significantly reduce the volume of the class as he admitted, “I’m not good at drawing people.”

A few students giggled at that.

“And besides-” He turned back to the board and reached for the duster, intent on erasing the illustration to make room for another. “I… _created_ this world… as a hobby, and nothing more. I had an active imagination back when… a few years back. Still have, actually. And as someone who plays a role of both teacher and teaching assistant of many subjects, I rarely have free time for something like that.”

It felt a bit bad to claim all of the other world as his, but as the only person from there, Izuku wanted an excuse to make things a little more familiar for himself. He would also be able to showcase the spectacular world he lived most of his life in, tragic events be damned.

Was that wrong?

“You could make a novel out of it, then! When you’re not busy, of course,” said a student.

His movements seemed to pause, if only for a moment, before continuing to erase the drawing. Facing away from the class, the students couldn’t see the soft smile that his lips curled into.

“I wonder…” Izuku said under his breath.

Several books under the series ‘Monster Hunter’. Depicting the rise of a young orphan to a living legend in a world largely dominated by dragons and other fantastical beasts. Written by a certain retired Pro-hero.

Unknown to everyone else except for his most trusted friends and family, it would be the autobiography of Midoriya Izuku in the other world, but with changes in the beginning and end.

“Here’s a monster I’ve shown you all before. I wonder if someone can guess its name,” he said as he began to draw.

Once again, the entire class lapsed into silence and watched as their teacher sketched out another one of his creations with surprising grace for how quickly he drew. The monster began to take shape, and it appeared to be a type of quadrupedal leviathan.

Nejire was the one who guessed first, breaking the silence. “Oh, oh, I remember! It’s called the a-ak… Akantor!”

“Close!” Izuku told her. “But incorrect! There’s a reason I wanted you all to guess.”

He wasn’t done drawing yet, but he still turned to face his class. The students recognized it, but a few seemed to be struggling trying to remember its name. One boy in particular actually made eye contact with Izuku.

“Amajiki!” The addressee almost jumped. “You look like you’re confident in your answer.”

Izuku wore a teasing smile as Tamaki accepted his fate and answered with a soft voice, “It’s the Agnaktor… but its name sounds a bit similar to Akantor and the latter is easier to remember…”

His classmates were enlightened, but he had a bit more to say, “It lives inside volcanoes and can swim in lava… Its long beak is shaped in such a way that it can drill through volcanic rock… and its body is designed to be able to dig and tunnel through such rock.”

A moment of stunned silence passed in the classroom, and Tamaki had to resist the urge to squirm under his classmates’ scrutiny. A clap from the front of the room took the attention away.

It was Izuku, looking rather proud. “That is correct, Amajiki. I’m surprised but delighted that you memorized some details of its ecology despite it not having anything to do with heroics.”

“It’s… really interesting to learn about them…” Tamaki muttered just loud enough for Izuku’s enhanced hearing to pick up on. He then finished drawing the monster for his students to admire.

Realizing it should be almost time for the next class, Izuku decided it was a better time than any to tell his students something. “Class, there’s something you should know that I’ve been holding back on telling you all for a while now. But now I feel it’s a good time to tell you.”

He paused to make sure everyone was listening before saying more, “Somewhere in the forest of the school grounds is a building where I reside in. I’m not a certified counselor or anything, but if anyone wants to talk to me- doesn’t matter what topic- I’ll be more than happy to lend an ear or give advice, or just make small talk. You can come around at the end of any school day.”

Before dismissing the class, he remembered another thing. “If you want to know where it is, ask another teacher for the specific location.”

Izuku reached for the duster to clean up the blackboard. He was cut off from dismissing the class again, but this time it was because of someone else. Sensing a presence about to enter the classroom, he turned to face the door that wasn’t fully closed by the last person who used it.

The students were too enraptured by his ‘teachings’ to notice the warm outdoor air enter from the slight opening into the air-conditioned room.

A scarred hand that conveyed years of experience gripped onto the door frame before a head of reddish-brown hair peeked into the room.

It was just their homeroom teacher, Raku-sensei. His eyes darted around, sight landing on several students and Izuku before he informed the class, “Get ready for your next class.”

Izuku thought it was strange that Raku came all the way up here just to tell him that. Meanwhile, the students expressed their disappointment loudly and even began complimenting the young teacher’s artistic skills for some reason.

“No… can’t Midoriya-sensei draw another monster?”

“Come on, sensei! Just one more! We’d love to see more from you!”

“You’re my favorite teacher, Midoriya-sensei!”

The last one made Izuku even more suspicious of the situation. Making eye contact with his colleague, Raku leveled an unimpressed look on his face and brought up a small remote into view. Pressing the largest button on it, cabinets holding hero costumes slid out from the wall.

Ah. The next class was Heroics class.

A very obvious and forced smile made its way onto Izuku’s face and he turned back to the class.

“Tying to shorten the next class by wanting me to draw more… Buttering me up so I might go easy on you when I’m actually teaching…”

His voice was not loud, but it gave the endangered students a feeling of the calm before a storm. “I better see every single one of you in Gym Gamma in ten minutes or else I’ll call Aizawa over as an extra supervisor.”

The class moved swiftly, pulling out the cases containing their costumes from the large cabinets.

“Actually…” Izuku spoke up again. “Instead of Aizawa, how about I call Madam Hathaway?”

This time, everyone booked it at record speeds with their faces as pale as can be. Within seconds, the classroom was completely empty save for the two teachers.

“Good one. But as 1-B’s homeroom teacher, would she really agree to leaving her class unattended to supervise a rival class?” Raku asked.

Izuku smirked slightly. “Would that old woman agree to leaving her quiet class in exchange for disciplining a rowdier class? You tell me.”

The taller one of the two teachers laughed, knowing too well what the answer was. “I don’t know why I even asked.”

* * *

Stepping over a fallen branch on the ground, Mirio followed the narrow dirt path to where a teacher had directed him to. Behind him were his friends, Tamaki and Nejire.

“Midoriya-sensei just told us of this place earlier today… couldn’t we have waited a while before coming to visit?” Tamaki tried to rationalize a reason to not visit Izuku’s home on school grounds. He didn’t feel ready to have such a personal conversation with a teacher, even if they appeared to be of a similar age.

“Don’t be like that, Tamaki. Don’t you want to talk to Midoriya-sensei on equal grounds? I can’t say if I have a favorite teacher, but I’ll take any opportunity to learn something from him!” Mirio encouraged Tamaki with a smile.

“Mhm! Midoriya-sensei talks and gives advice like an old man, even though he looks as young as us,” agreed Nejire. “He’s definitely my favorite!”

The trio made their way through the rather dense forest in a line, not daring to stray from the path. Before long, lo and behold, Izuku’s humble abode came into view.

Lush greenery covered up the entire building from top to bottom, with exception of the entrance door and the huge glass dome on top shining under the light of the Sun.

The building was situated on elevated ground, appearing to be sitting atop a very short hill. Concrete steps led up the slope to the front door. The front of the building down to the bottom of the little hill was like a small meadow. There were no trees, only grass that seemed greener and healthier than normal.

_Beautiful._

If one were to look from above, the clearing would be the shape of a semicircle. Izuku’s personal facility gave off a feeling of being reclaimed by nature.

Not even Nejire could offer words to say as they basked in the atmosphere of tranquility.

“Eh?”

Snapping out of it, Mirio realized that the three of them had subconsciously walked up to the front door and entered the facility. He glanced at the closed door behind him before they walked through the hallway that led to the living room. Their footsteps echoed the enclosed space as they stepped on the polished wooden floor.

It was very cozy. The room was large, but with the way the furniture was positioned, there didn’t appear to be any wasted space inside.

Large bookcases lined the polished wooden walls, filled with an assortment of countless books. Mirio couldn’t help but wonder how many of those had Midoriya already read. Dim orange lighting lit up the interior of the living room like old lamps before the invention of the light bulb. Couches of different lengths were settled in the center of the room surrounding a low table with one armchair most likely for Midoriya.

A wooden desk sat near the wall between two bookcases, facing towards the center of the room, sandwiching the seated person between the wall and desk. Placed atop the table was an electronic lamp and a stationary holder. It must be where their teacher read and wrote stuff.

The air was cool, but not overly so. Cozy indeed.

The first one to make a noise was, unsurprisingly, Nejire. Jumping unceremoniously onto the largest couch, she laid there comfortably as she rested her aching muscles. She breathed a sigh of satisfaction. “Soft…”

“I’m never going to get used to this place, am I?” Tamaki said under his breath.

“H-Hado! You should show a little more etiquette in Midoriya-sensei’s house!” Mirio exclaimed in a panic.

“Mmmno. Soft. Sensei was the one who made us this tired in the first place. I deserve this,” Nejire mumbled, pulling a square cushion towards herself. “Hm?”

She sat up all of a sudden to inspect the cushion that had cat faces stitched onto them. “Wah~ how cute! Was sensei the one who stitched this pillow?”

Mirio looked at the counter by the side of the room to see a tea set and a kettle sitting on an inactive stove. The living room was also connected to a few other hallways. “Looks like we can only wait for Midoriya-sensei.”

Nejire seemed to have restored all of her previously lost energy all of a sudden as she stood up straight, stretching her arms. “So many bookcases… I wonder if sensei is hiding a hidden door somewhere behind one of them?”

Mirio raised an eyebrow for her antics as he made himself comfortable on a couch. With a wry smile, he said, “Even if he was, how would we be able to find it?”

_Click!_

All three of them froze at the sound.

Mirio’s eyes went wide. Tamaki’s face looked as if his worst nightmares came true. Nejire looked fascinated, her eyes shining with interest. She pressed a finger on her lower lip in intrigue as her other hand remained rested atop the thick book she had just pulled out a few inches.

Like a spring, the book pulled back into its original position when she let go and low noises echoed from behind the bookcase. With a quiet rumble, the large piece of furniture moved aside by itself, revealing an actual hidden passageway going downwards.

“ … Let’s go explore!” Nejire finally said excitedly.

Mirio’s smile became a bit strained. “Hado, that’s a bit… it’s an invasion of privacy, no? What if we see something we weren’t supposed to see?”

Tamaki was a lot more paranoid. “Whatever secrets Midoriya-sensei might be keeping… We’re better off not knowing…!”

Nejire’s eyebrows knitted into a frown as she stood facing the two with her arms crossed over her chest. She defended their teacher with much confidence, “Midoriya-sensei is our teacher! Even if he doesn’t call himself a Pro-Hero for some reason, sensei is still one of the most heroic people I know! I don’t believe that he could do anything bad behind our backs!”

“Because I know Midoriya-sensei is a good person!”

Taken by surprise, Mirio was speechless after hearing that outburst. Tamaki looked a bit guilty for assuming the worst.

Then, a large smile bloomed on the blonde’s face. He chuckled a bit before standing up and saying, “You’re right, Hado! Sensei is definitely a good person! There’s no reason to suspect him of anything bad.”

Tamaki did not say anything, but he nodded in agreement with Mirio’s words.

Nejire regained her smile. “Then come on! If we find a door or something, then even if it’s unlocked, we won’t open it.”

It seemed that behind her childish exterior, there was the presence of a small amount of courtesy.

Feeling slightly curious themselves, Mirio and Tamaki decided to go along with her, but they made a compromise to tell Izuku about it, though they doubted if they could actually hide it. They didn’t know how to return the bookcase to its previous position after all.

Besides, there wasn’t much to explore anyway. The walk down the stairs was not long, and it simply led to a narrow hallway. What lied on the other side however, was quite disconcerting.

It was a steel door of a considerable size. A number pad was installed on the door, suggesting that it required a password to enter.

The password that was written on a piece of paper attached to the same number pad.

Staring at the string of numbers that made up the password, they felt as if their fates were sealed.

“Well what do we-”

“Gah!”

Mirio swung his fist behind him on instinct, only for a hand to grab his forearm, stopping his hasty attack.

“Mi-Midoriya-sensei?” He yelped in shock as the rest of them turned around in alarm.

Izuku stood there with an amused smile on his face, gripping onto Mirio’s arm before the fist impacted his face. His hair was no longer tied up into a ponytail, so they fell down to his shoulders. “Sneaking around? It was Hado, wasn’t it.”

“We won’t tell anyone, promise! Don’t turn us into your lab experiments!” Nejire pleaded dramatically. Mirio and even Tamaki face-faulted.

_What was that about sensei being a good person?!_

Izuku wasn’t offended at all, choosing to laugh it off. “Relax, Hado. It may _look_ shady but it’s not actually _that_ shady. I just do my research there. The whole building itself started off as a research facility but then eventually doubled as my second home. It’s much better that way.”

He gestured at the trio to get back to the living room. “Come on now, it’s quite stuffy in here. I’ll brew you some tea, if you’d like.”

A minute later and Izuku sat down comfortably on his armchair with a cup of tea in hand. The students had chosen to refuse the offer for the hot leaf water.

Izuku had pulled on a different book for the bookcase to move back to its original position.

He blew on the steam from the tea to cool it down and waited for someone to start the conversation.

“ … Sensei.” Surprisingly, it was Tamaki who spoke first though he didn’t maintain eye contact. “What exactly is it that you… research, here?”

“My quirk,” answered Izuku, before taking a long sip of his tea. “Haven’t you ever wondered what the limits of my quirk is?”

Tamaki hesitated slightly before inquiring, “Your quirk lets you… create life, right?”

Izuku blinked, face indifferent but eyes puzzled. “You can say that, yes. Though I find it weird how little the students talk about my quirk and creations. Have quirks really-”

“We don’t often talk about it because every class involving your quirk feels like a fever dream, Midoriya-sensei!” Mirio interrupted loudly with a comically serious expression on his face.

“That is very true, Midoriya-sensei!” Nejire could only give her support for that claim. Even Tamaki was nodding, almost imperceptibly.

Izuku laughed again, setting down his teacup on the table in front of him. “I suppose that should be the case, isn’t it? But enough about me, what about you three?”

The ‘young’ teacher adjusted his seating posture and crossed one of his legs over the other. “Have you all been preparing well for the upcoming sports festival?”

It was Mirio’s turn to laugh, albeit rather dryly and awkwardly. He spoke up, averting his eyes, “Preparing… it’s as you say, sensei.”

“We’re not confident at all at being able to get past the first round at all.” Nejire was more than happy to expose her friend’s lie with a chipper tone of voice. Mirio turned away with that same awkward smile.

Izuku shook his head with a smile. “That bad? How unfortunate.”

He interlaced his fingers together and settled his hands a little below his solar plexus as his elbows rested on the armrests of his chair. “Other than ‘good luck’, there’s not much encouragement I can give that I haven’t already given to you all in class. But you shouldn’t worry too much, since you have three years, three chances to showcase your skills to the giant audience watching. Though to be honest…”

He made eye contact with each of the three students in front of him. “Not doing well in the sports festival does not indicate a lack of skill. While most of the time that sort of perspective is not wrong… it is not a hundred percent correct either. For me, it’s okay if you don’t or can’t do well on that day. As long as you promise me to give it your all for your job as a Pro-Heroes, I’ll be satisfied.”

Listening to and ruminating over Izuku’s words, they felt a weight lifted off their shoulders.

“Midoriya-sensei, you talk a lot like an old person!” Guess who said that.

“Hado, that’s not a polite thing to say to our teacher!” Mirio hurriedly reprimanded the giggling bluenette. Izuku chuckled lightheartedly.

Unknown to him, a different promise resounded in the minds of all three of them.

_Even if it does not matter for Midoriya-sensei, I will still do my best to make him proud!_

“Yes, Amajiki?” Seeing Tamaki voluntarily make eye contact with him, he immediately took the opportunity to ask.

“Um, about your quirk…” There seemed to be a lot he wanted to say. Izuku nodded gently to indicate that it was alright and he would lend an ear, as promised.

Tamaki took a deep breath and started, “I noticed that your creations… are similar in nature to the monsters you draw… so I was wondering. Anything you can imagine of… as long as you put enough passion and details to it… you’re able to bring them to life. O-of course, that probably isn’t right, I’m just rambling. I-I didn’t put that much thought into it…”

Izuku listened attentively with a smile. Neither confirming nor denying his student’s theory, he praised, “You and Mirio share the same exceptional deductive skills for your age. Never let that spark fizzle out, alright?”

Mirio beamed at the praise while Tamaki turned away with a blush.

“Hey, what about me? I can be a deductive person too!” Nejire pouted, not wanting to be left out. “I also have a theory about sensei!”

How could Izuku stop her from speaking her mind? With that thought, he sat a little more attentively, his back slouching a bit from leaning forward and his interlaced hands resting on the knee of the leg that wasn’t touching the ground.

Seeing that everyone’s attention was on her, she smiled brightly and declared out loud, “Midoriya-sensei got his experience and knowledge from another world, and he was able to come back to make use of it to become a teacher!”

With such a confident smile and air of certainty, how else could Mirio react but laugh loudly? “Hado, that’s quite a stretch even knowing how quirks are, haha!”

“Hmph! And how are you so sure it’s a quirk? For all we know, Midoriya-sensei might have something else!” She pouted.

Tamaki had yet to recover from embarrassment, so none of them caught the sight of Izuku freezing in place, eyes wide and containing a plethora of swirling emotions. Then as quickly as it came, he schooled his expressions and smiled warmly.

Returning to his initial sitting posture, he picked up his teacup and downed the rest of the tea. He reached for the kettle to pour himself another cup.

For a while, all they did was talk. About what? Well, all sorts of things.

Mundane topics like daily life, serious topics like managing stress in school, and many others. It was time well spent.

Izuku glanced at the wall-mounted clock in the room and took in the time. “Let’s stop things here, since it’s getting late. I don’t want to risk your safety by having you all walk home when it’s dark out.”

The three students were somewhat disappointed that they had to leave, but they understood that Midoriya was only doing his job as a responsible teacher. So after a bit of resistance, Izuku saw them out of his facility.

As they walked out of the front door and made their way down the concrete steps, he waved them farewell, and they waved back in return. Even after they walked out of sight, Izuku’s smile still hadn’t left his face.

He closed the door and walked back to the living room. He then cleared the table of the kettle and tea cup and put them in the sink in the counter in the corner of the room.

Instead of washing them or beginning his homework marking for the day, Izuku stepped in front of a bookcase.

The same bookcase where the hidden passageway was located behind.

Pulling on the same thick book Nejire had done so before, the bookcase moved to the side for him to proceed. Going all the way down the short flight of stairs, he glanced to his right to see a small button the same color as the walls. After pushing it, the large piece of furniture upstairs moved back and covered the way in and also out.

“Hmm… looking at the living room layout, where would be a good place to put down a whole harp?” Izuku appeared to be talking to himself. “Any thoughts, _Fatalis_?”

Taking long strides, he quickly arrived by the steel door and raised a hand to input the password. Then he paused in his actions.

“ … Is that so?” After saying that, he finally typed down the password. “Alright, if you think so.”

The password was just a random string of numbers, in all honesty. There was no major significance behind them.

The door opened with a loud and metallic groan that felt as if the vibrations resonated with his bones. As it opened just barely enough for a human to squeeze through, a living ball of fluff and muscle collided with his leg from inside.

“Meowster! You’re back, nya!” Nekoko cried out in joy, clinging onto Izuku’s thigh.

He smiled playfully, shaking the palico off of his leg. “We saw each other in the morning… also, how is your Japanese progressing?”

“Very good, nya! Koko is good at learning,” Nekoko told his meowster.

“Yet you still need to refer to the piece of paper attached to the number pad to get in here?” Izuku teased.

The palico folded his feline ears in shame. “That- that’s different, nya…”

Izuku walked through the half opened door with a chuckle, his companion following close.

The steel door shut behind him with a deep clang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Initially I was planning on jumping straight to the start and end of the sports festival, then I realized I haven't developed a close enough bond between Izuku and the soon-to-be big three, so I came up with this chapter.
> 
> Now I can't imagine how dull the next chapter might be without this one. The first scene with Ectoplasm also plays a significance in the long run.
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Uragaan: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Uragaan  
> Agnaktor: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Agnaktor


	15. Event Quest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a lil' writer's block I got.  
> At the very least, I got the chapter out the way I wanted it.
> 
> So I hope you enjoy!
> 
> And holy hell 2k kudos I am overwhelmed

The noise in the venue came as a constant stream of booming cheers from the audience. The excitement in the air was palpable. Sunny, but not uncomfortably so. White clouds decorated the blue sky and a gentle breeze somehow made its way down to some of the high-seating spectators. Or was that just a draft of air created by the moving bodies?

Where else could this place be other than the Sports Festival Stadium?

One person that didn’t quite share the same enthusiasm was seated on one of the seats meant for important guests. Body leaning forward, knuckle up to his chin and one leg bouncing up and down faintly in what seemed to be either irritation or impatience, Izuku let out a long breath through his nose that was almost a sigh.

He wore surprisingly well-fitting formal wear, consisting of the full set of suit, pants, and tie. It was either this or his entire hero costume which, while good at doing what it does best, was a bitch to put on and drew a lot of stares.

_ ‘You’ll grow into it!’ _ Inko had told him almost a year ago. She wasn’t wrong, but at this rate he would need a brand new suit to grow into next year.

Izuku actually showered with conditioner this time, and with his mother helping him comb his wild hair, it actually looked tame. Relatively so.

He snorted lightly, moving on from thinking about how soft his ponytail felt between his fingers. For the sake of anonymity outside of UA, he took up the principal’s offer to be seated in a sort of VIP booth in the stadium. The large pane of glass in front of him rendered it near impossible to look through from outside and it allowed spectators from inside to view the proceedings with excellent clarity, albeit a shade darker because of the tinted glass.

Izuku’s existence was only known within the confines of UA and those who often mingled with the school staff, such as other Pro-Heroes. Publicly, he was an enigma. Not a single grain of information could be found regarding his identity, courtesy of the Japanese government. It also helped that he and his mother never used social media as a medium for making friends and instead used it to get updated on the latest events.

In the school, outside of classes, he was quite elusive. And even when there was an opportunity to take a photo of his face without him knowing, the students wouldn’t do so purely out of respect. So to the general public, Midoriya Izuku was a mystery.

He would show his face to the world when the time was right.

“But still… two years? Those three would be in their third year already,” Izuku muttered loud enough for the person sitting to the right of him to hear. It was none other than Nedzu.

“Don’t let that damper your mood now, the Commission did indeed approve your proposal, didn’t they?” The principal tried to cheer him up. “Though I must say, I’m surprised they actually  _ did  _ approve of it. Those old fossils aren’t the most receptive to change. Especially one so radical.”

“I told you I was good enough with words to convince them.” Izuku shot a momentary smirk at his employer. Sitting up straight, he huffed in annoyance. “But they have no reason to give it two years of waiting before applying the changes.”

“Well, let’s let bygones be bygones now and enjoy the festival!” Nedzu switched his focus to the center of the stadium.

Izuku sighed, but feeling someone squeeze his left hand, he let a smile grace his face. He turned to face his mother, who had accepted the free seat on his left. Initially Inko was hesitant about going to watch the proceedings up close, but she eventually acquiesced because it meant she could spend more time with her son.

The main reason she previously wasn’t willing to attend the festival was because she didn’t think she could handle all the blood-pumping action present on the same day every year.

That’s why she had her son’s hand clasped between her own.

“It’s not that bad. Think of the shock and wonder the audience will react with when the time comes. I think that makes it worth the wait. And your favorite batch of students would have become third years, so they wouldn’t be missing out,” said Inko.

Izuku’s expression softened as he kept his warm smile. “I guess you have a point. Also I don’t do favoritism.”

A pair of eyes pricked at the back of his head. “ … I try my best not to show favoritism.”

His mother rolled her eyes with a smile on her face and continued to idly knead Izuku’s hand in anticipation.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I believe you’ve waited long enough for this moment!” Present Mic’s voice boomed from the speakers of the stadium. Izuku finally turned his attention to the events that were about to unfold.

“First up! We have the pride and glory of our school and- not to undermine the other courses- who else can they be other than the students of the Hero course?!” The noise absolutely peaked as the audience went wild with their cheering and applause. “Classes 1-A and 1-B, declare your presence to the world!”

And declare it they did. Thirty-nine students marched out of one of the tunnels and into the view of the countless spectators. Some of the students waved. Some tried to appear smaller to avoid the scrutiny of the onlookers. The others just took it all in stride and walked with all the confidence they could manage.

Izuku’s sights instantly zeroed in on three faces in particular.

Their expressions varied. Mirio looked determined, Tamaki seemed anxious, and Nejire appeared as bubbly as always. But there was one characteristic that all three of them shared at this moment, including Tamaki.

All of them stood tall and walked with purpose in their stride. Izuku relaxed his body on the cushioned seat and the corners of his lips tugged upwards.

“Are you confident that those three will make it past the first event?” Nedzu asked out of the blue. It was only natural he knew who Izuku had interest in.

“As long as they try their best, it doesn’t matter to me. And they know that very well,” Izuku replied simply.

Nedzu also had a smile on his face and said vaguely, “I see.”

“Alright, you two. No talking like cryptic old men when we’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves.” Inko’s chiding voice cut through their little veil of mystery.

The two men chuckled in response. “Yes, mom/Inko.”

Let it be known that Izuku’s mother and the principal of UA had an amiable enough friendship that they were on a first-name basis.

“Although there is one more thing I would like to address,” Nedzu spoke up. “I wonder who in General Education will move up to take the missing spot in the Hero course.”

Izuku hummed in acknowledgement of his words as he felt his hand get squeezed a little tighter upon the announcement of the first event.

* * *

A long sigh escaped from Mirio’s mouth. The three friends chose to wait in one of the waiting rooms to somewhat wallow in their failure.

Though failure is a strong word, since this outcome was not very surprising. Even so, Mirio and Tamaki couldn’t help but feel a little gloomy about not being able to move on to the second event. As for Nejire…

She was sipping a drink through a straw with an innocent expression that he couldn’t read.

If no one wanted to be the optimistic one, then Mirio would have to rise up to it!

“At least we tried our best, right? I’m sure Midoriya-sensei and the other teachers would be happy with that!” He lifted his own spirits first. His words carried more weight if he truly believed them. “Besides, there’s-”

“Always next year.” A familiar young voice finished for him.

A hand landed on Nejire’s head and she turned to see Izuku beside her. She didn’t make a move to remove the hand and kept sipping through the straw.

Their teacher grinned. “Don’t look so down now, I think you three did quite well.”

Tamaki miraculously stopped staring at the wall to subtly glance at Izuku.

Nejire stopped sipping her drink to say, “I thought a suit wouldn’t fit your look, but I’m happy to be wrong!”

Mirio and Tamaki had the urge to facepalm. Their teacher laughed at her bluntness and unconsciously stroked the top of Nejire’s head, eliciting a smile from her. The other two felt that there was something missing on the top of their heads. “Come on now, you three should get out there and enjoy the other activities they have planned. This is the Sports Festival!”

How else could they respond other than with enthusiasm? Well, Tamaki was more reserved but baby steps.

* * *

“Why did we have to come here so early in the morning…” Tamaki groaned tiredly, looking at the open gates of UA.

“Don’t be like that, it’s only barely earlier than if we came on a school day,” Mirio replied optimistically.

“And classes begin too early.” His friend shot back without much vigor.

Usually after the Sports Festival, the students are granted a two day break from school to do whatever. While there was no difference here, the tight-knit group of three had discussed that they wanted to work harder at tackling their weaknesses so that they could earn a good score for the practical portion of their exams.

They were lacking, and they were aware of that.

“Hado still hasn’t arrived… nor is she replying to my messages. She must still be sleeping,” mused Mirio. “Well, that’s fine. She did exhaust herself quite a bit yesterday. Let’s go in first.”

So the two entered school grounds and took a path through the main building.

Then they just so happened to run into Cementoss who was carrying a large stack of papers in his hands.

“Oh, you two. You’re here for extra training, right?” The teacher asked.

“Yeah, and Midoriya-sensei gave us the okay. There should be no problems, right?” Mirio scratched the back of his head nervously.

“Not at all,” Cementoss clarified calmly. “Since you’re here, it’s a good time for me to tell you that Midoriya had asked me to help you out with the training.”

Both of them were surprised. Mirio quickly waved him off in a fluster, wanting to refuse the offer. “Ishiyama-sensei, we wouldn’t want to impose! Isn’t this two day break also a kind of break for the teachers?”

The cement man only chuckled in amusement. “And what kind of training are you planning to do with both of your quirks? They’re quite unique, so I fear that without assistance from someone like me you wouldn’t be able to make full use of the time given.”

That got the blonde thinking. His Permeation and Tamaki’s Manifest were definitely tricky quirks to get around. Cementoss’ quirk could honestly be the best one in terms of helping them train, and Midoriya-sensei did ask the man to do so.

So he bowed, and Tamaki hurriedly followed his actions. “In that case, thank you Ishiyama-sensei! We’ll be in your care.”

Cementoss simply chuckled again before saying, “The pleasure’s all mine. And if there’s someone you should be thanking, it would be Midoriya. He gave me this opportunity after all.”

Mirio stood up straight and smiled brightly. “We’ll be sure to do so!”

Shifting the papers in his hands slightly, Cementoss turned to leave. “Allow me put these away in my office first. Also, shouldn’t there be another one of you? Hado, I believe was her name.”

“That’s right! But right now she could still be sleeping, so both of us came here first.” Mirio tugged on Tamaki’s arm as a gesture to continue walking to Gym Gamma.

The teacher nodded in acknowledgment and they parted ways.

Meanwhile, just outside the gates…

“Hah~, didn’t I tell those two to come over to my house and pull me out of my bed if I overslept? Mom never wakes me up herself.” Nejire panted from exhaustion for running all the way to UA after just waking up. “Now I used up my stamina for training.”

Stuffing her mouth with the piece of half-eaten toast in hand, she settled for pouting to express her displeasure. Then she walked through the gates and coincidentally took the same path as her two friends.

“Midoriya-sensei said that he has something that might help with my stamina problem… medicine? Drugs? Medicines are drugs, right? Don’t they have long-lasting negative effects? Sensei wouldn’t do that to his students…” She moved on autopilot as she wondered aloud about what Izuku had planned for her.

Suddenly, from over a corner of the corridor, someone bumped into her! Indeed, it wasn’t Nejire who bumped into someone while lost in her thoughts, but the person’s fault.

“Oof!”

“Ack- sorry!”

She tipped over backwards which resulted in her body falling and sprawling on the floor. There was no resistance put up because she was tired and her mind was occupied.

“Ah! I didn’t think I bumped into you that badly! Are you hurt? Do you need help to get to the infirmary?” The feminine voice was understandably panicked at seeing a schoolmate fall back-first onto the floor. An outstretched hand came into Nejire’s vision.

“Don’t worry! I’m not hurt. I just fell because I was lost in my thoughts!” She said in a tone too chipper for the situation.

“Oh! Uh… you should get off of the ground.” The outstretched hand remained in place for Nejire to grasp, which she did.

She clambered to her feet quickly and stood as if nothing happened a few seconds ago. Getting a good look at the person she ran into, her eyes flashed with recognition.

Short and somewhat messy light red hair, eyes a darker shade of red and piercings on her ears. The questions came flooding out before she knew it.

“Your face looks familiar! You were one of the students who made it to the final event of the Sports Festival, right?”

“Y-yes, I-”

“I didn’t see your quirk in action, what does it do?”

“Well-”

“Do your piercings hurt?”

“No, they-”

“Why are you in school when there’s a two day break?” Nejire finished with that, leaving the girl across from her a little befuddled.

“Um… I’m in school because…” The girl’s eyes did not maintain eye contact as she tried to find a believable explanation without exposing her true intentions. After a few moments, she seemed to have come up with something and deflected the question back, “Hold on now, why are  _ you  _ in school?”

Ignoring her blatant reluctance in wanting to give a straight answer, Nejire said with a small amount of pride, “Midoriya-sensei has given me and my friends permission to train in Gym Gamma today and tomorrow!”

“Really? Me too!” The girl went wide eyed in surprise and replied honestly.

That prompted Nejire to smile widely. A potential new friend! “Hey, what’s your name? I’m Hado Nejire from the Hero course by the way!”

“My name’s Haya Yuyu, from General Ed. Nice to meet you, I guess.” They exchanged late introductions. There was something in the bluenette’s inquisitive eyes that made Yuyu feel slightly apprehensive for some reason.

“Haya…”

“Y-yes?”

“Yuyu…”

“Um…”

“Haya Yuyu.”

“That’s my name.”

The smile returned to Nejire’s face as she repeated, “Haya Yuyu! I like it!”

The corner of Yuyu’s lips twitched in mirth. “ … Thank you?”

Taking her off guard, Nejire grabbed her hand and began happily pulling her along to Gym Gamma. She pulled back after a moment. “W-wait! I can’t follow you!”

“Why not?” Nejire asked, confused.

Yuyu struggled to answer for a while. She didn’t  _ have  _ to give an excuse, but looking at Nejire tilting her head curiously and innocently, how could she lie?

“How about… I show you? In the future, I mean. But you have to keep it a secret. Please?” She made a compromise with herself.

Nejire had no problem with that at all. After all, she was good at keeping secrets! After making the motion of zipping her lips, she said, “Okay! It’s our secret. And one more thing!”

She raised a pinky finger towards her new acquaintance. “Pinky promise!”

How else could Yuyu react with anything other than with a genuine smile and by returning the gesture? Her own pinky finger wrapped around Nejire’s and the promise was made.

“I should go now, Togata and Amajiki are waiting for me!” And just like that, she sped off, but not without waving goodbye to Yuyu, who did the same.

Waiting a few seconds until Nejire was out of sight, she sighed, feeling a bit tired all of a sudden. Even so, Yuyu kept her smile.

“So energetic this early in the morning… I’m a bit envious,” she said with a shake of her head. Then she turned around and left to carry out her initial ‘objective’. The reason why she was here.

She strolled onwards out the main building and… into the forest!

Traversing through the seemingly endless stretch of trees that somehow all belonged to UA, Yuyu followed a path in her mind she had taken before. It wasn’t that far out, but it was still easy to get lost in this dense woodland, so she had informed a teacher beforehand. That was why she didn’t come here straight away.

But she wasn’t lying when she said that Izuku had given her permission to be here. Why ask him of all teachers? Well…

Swatting away some pesky bugs buzzing near her face, she stepped into a small clearing. It was not the place where Izuku’s research facility was built upon, but rather a normal, small space where the Sun’s rays shone brightly down on.

Yuyu stepped over a bush, heart starting to pound in her chest at thinking of what she was about to meet. It wasn’t the first time they interacted, but she could never get used to it.

Mouth dry, she called out, “I-I’m here!”

Loud rustling was heard from the tall shrubbery across from her and she took deep, measured breaths to calm herself down the best she could.

From the dense green, out came the vicious visage of what appeared to be a predatory dinosaur.

It slowly closed the distance between them looking intimidating, menacing, dangerous…

And absolutely goddamn cool.

Yuyu held in a squeal as she grinned with enthusiasm that could match the girl she had met a few minutes ago.

The monster was built like a giant raptor and had blue scales with black stripes. Attached to the top of its head was a dull red crest. Size-wise, the height at which its avian head rested was already on the same level as Yuyu’s own head.

_ Velociprey. _

Stretching out one of her arms tentatively, she too moved forward slowly with the intent to pet the scary blue dinosaur. The velociprey slowly leaned a little closer, as if understanding that she was still on guard and that quick movements would spook her.

She inwardly sighed in relief. It was the same one she had met before. Yuyu’s hands moved to caress the cold and tough scales on its head.

“Wow…” she breathed. The velociprey was unperturbed, accepting her pats like a domestic animal.

Midoriya-sensei had told her that there were many more of them around patrolling the forest along with a few other different monsters.

_ ‘They’re pack animals, so that means they have an alpha. That one is easily distinguishable from the rest, since its body is much bigger and the crest more developed.’ _

The velociprey itself was already huge in her eyes, so Yuyu could hardly believe that they could grow much bigger.

_ I’m pretty sure sensei was just messing with me, right? Though I’m glad there’s more of them, so this one won’t be lonely. _

She wasn’t part of the Hero course, so she had not seen the massive creatures that Izuku would pull out for training the second and third years. The only knowledge she had of bigger monsters were all just hearsay.

Yuyu sort of wished that she could be selfish about hanging out with this cool monster and keep these moments all to herself, but that wasn’t very nice. Now she had made a promise she didn’t want to break.

But since Nejire was willing to keep it a secret, she reckoned it was just a one-time thing.

And whenever Yuyu had looked back to this moment of the past, she would laugh at her naive and younger self, for there was no such thing as a ‘one-time thing’ when one becomes friends with Nejire-chan.

* * *

The two days of rest were over and the homeroom was packed as usual. The trio were at their seats and were conveniently sitting in an ‘L’ formation so that they could simply lean towards each other to converse.

Their homeroom teacher Raku-sensei entered the classroom and sent the students back to their seats. He cleared his throat and said, “I hope you all are well. You’ve just had a two day break so I expect all of you to have rested more than long enough to continue with the coming lessons.”

There was mixed feedback from the class, some excited to get back to the swing of things and some wanting to relax for longer.

“To begin with,” he started, silencing the class. “I would like to say that our class did quite well in terms of the nominations submitted by the Pros. They’re quite well spread out among the class, although there are still a few students who did not receive any.”

The homeroom teacher swiftly wrote down the names of the students with nominations by Pro-Heroes on the board. Unfortunately to Mirio’s chagrin, he and his friends did not receive any. Well, that was to be expected for not being able to get past the first event.

“Regardless of whether or not you’ve received any, you will still be given an opportunity to get work-place experience by the more magnanimous Pros, so don’t think any of you can slack off on this,” he finished, turning back to the class. The students were chatting amongst each other again, but this time they didn’t raise their voices.

Mirio, Tamaki and Nejire didn't notice how Raku's gaze lingered on them for a short while before moving on. “First things first, hero names. I’m joined by-”

“Me!” Midnight all but barged into the room without warning, whip in hand.

“-Midnight, since she’s better at judging names than I am.”

After explaining the importance of a good hero name and assuring the students that the names could be changed later in the year, they were given empty white plaques to write their hero names on with markers.

Now this was something Mirio had confidence in, as he had already decided his hero name long ago.

“Lemillion! Meaning that I want to save a million people!” He declared loudly and boldly with a smile.

“Hmm… a million people, huh? How ambitious. I like it!” Midnight gave him a thumbs up.

While Mirio had already settled for that alias, Nejire and Tamaki were drawing on blanks. Wanting to change her hero name in the future, Nejire settled for just her first name for now. Only after her other two buddies shot down her ridiculous suggestions for names first.

Indecisive, Tamaki wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep the alias he just came up with or change it later, since he didn’t know if he could come up with anything better. Currently, his hero name was ‘Eater’. Fitting, but quite plain.

Thus began the discussion amongst friend groups of the class about which Pro-Hero their friends were choosing to go out for field-training.

* * *

In the familiar cozy living room in Izuku’s personal facility, Izuku himself was busy with something at the desk. The light from the lamp lit up the piece of paper in his hands. There wasn’t a lot of text in it, but the format looked rather formal.

Laying flat on the desk were two other documents with nearly identical contents.

Seemingly satisfied, Izuku nodded and took a pen from its holder to sign the three papers. As he returned the piece of stationary to the holder, he pulled up one of the drawers next to his legs beneath the desk and took out two items.

A circle-shaped stamp the size of his palm and what appeared to be a large but flat metal case. Pulling the lid from the case, it was revealed to be an ink pad.

Izuku pressed the stamp onto the ink pad before pressing it on the piece of paper. He repeated his actions for the other two documents.

After putting away the apparatus, Izuku called for his companion and assistant, “Koko!”

Immediately, he heard the familiar sound of skittering paw-steps coming from one of the hallways.

“What is it, meowster?” Nekoko arrived within seconds, itching for something to do.

Izuku smiled softly and instructed him, “I have a task for you.”

* * *

By the end of the school day, the trio were still unsure of who they should intern under.

“We still have until the end of the week to decide, so let’s not worry about it too much,” Mirio said to the other two with a reassuring smile. “We have plenty of time to discuss this later.”

Being the last few students to exit the class, the corridors were quite empty.

“I wonder if the heroes I intern under will let me spar with them with my quirk. That would be a bit disastrous wouldn’t it? Then do I have to not use my quirk during my internship? Will they teach me hand-to-hand combat in that case? I wish I can just-” Nejire was interrupted in her ramblings by an envelope being lightly thrown at her face.

Mirio and Tamaki both caught the envelopes thrown at them by a familiar feline. Nekoko struck a pose, peace sign up in the air before he dashed off with a ‘nya!’

Then they heard countless footsteps closing in on them and witnessed a literal crowd of upperclassmen chase down Nekoko with slightly manic expressions. Taking a moment to process the scene, the wave of bodies were gone before they knew it.

Voices echoed down the corridor.

“Nice, a flank!”

“We’ve got you cornered now!”

“Let us pat you, Nekoko!”

“Fluff!”

“Wait where is he-”

“THE VENTS! WE FORGOT THE VENTS!”

“NOOOO~!”

Mirio’s lips curled into a forced smile. “Let’s all just ignore that, shall we?”

Tamaki and Nejire gave their silent agreement as they began to open the envelopes given to them. He hurriedly did the same.

Pulling up the folded piece of document within, they unfolded it and took a gander at their contents.

Collectively, their eyes widened.

Each of them looked up from the paper at the same time and exchanged glances, since they stood around in a triangle formation. Even Nejire was at a loss for words. So instead of saying anything, all three of them stretched out their arms holding their document towards each other and the papers met in the middle, facing skywards.

The three documents had the same black stamp. A circle containing a 2D and simplistic yet intricate design of a dragon.

A symbol that no monster hunter was unfamiliar with.

But to them, it just told them one thing.

_ Midoriya-sensei. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why tf is Nejire so goddamn cute?
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Velociprey: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Velociprey


	16. Nightmare Patrol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HMMMMMMMMMMMMM  
> Sorry for taking so long y'all. Don't know what got into me.  
> Anyway I hope you enjoy, though this chapter was shorter than I thought despite how eventful it is.

In the teacher’s office, class 1-A’s homeroom teacher Raku Iwano was keying in the results of his class’s last quiz before they left for their internships. Sat in his cubicle, the teacher silently inputted the marks into the computer.

Then his fingers inexplicably twitched ever so slightly. He glanced down to his hands.

_ Hm? There can’t possibly be danger here, right? _

Suddenly, a shrill yet aged voice called loudly into the office from outside the entrance, “Crocodile fingers Raku, you better be in there!”

Present Mic, who tried to sneak in a few winks of sleep in his cubicle abruptly slammed his hands on his table and hauled ass out of the office through the emergency exit, evidently having just been awakened by  _ her  _ voice. He mumbled something incoherent and shut the door behind him quickly and not so subtly.

Raku’s fingers started twitching with increased intensity. He clenched his hands into fists and released a shaky sigh. His hands were pulled away from hovering above the keyboard as he turned his office chair around to prepare to greet class 1-B’s homeroom teacher.

Hathaway Maria, the second oldest member of UA's staff, entered the office with a metal cane in hand and a sharp glare directed at 1-A’s homeroom teacher. “You know what that brat did, don’t you?”

“You must be talking about Midoriya’s decision on taking three of class 1-A’s students as his interns without anyone from 1-B, correct?” Raku kept his cool and his tone even.

“What the hell else? You must think you’re smart, trying to take control of the conversation,” she snorted derisively while he imperceptibly tensed more. “Who does Midoriya think he is? Showing such blatant favoritism towards those three brats. Just send them to me and I’ll whip ‘em up to shape!”

“Wouldn’t that also be considered-”

“Favoritism? Don’t misunderstand,  _ kouhai _ . I meant to trade three of my students with three of his. Once they’re in my class, I’ll make sure they catch up to the rest of my students soon enough.” Hathaway said arrogantly.

Though the arrogance was not unfounded.

Feigning the calmness in his voice, Raku stated, “Madam Hathaway, as a homeroom teacher, you are limited in how much you can change the other subjects to better fit your students. Also, regarding the favoritism, Midoriya had told us why he even sends internship offers. It was to help students with high potential quicker tap into that hidden talent within them or their quirk. He had promised that by the end of their third year, every students’ potential would be fully realized. That’s why he only sends three offers exclusively to first years.”

Hathaway stared at him, unimpressed. “Cut the bullshit. I demand a spar,  **_Rock Jaw_ ** .”

Raku ‘Rock Jaw’ Iwano’s clenched jaw tightened. Not because of his quirk, or anger. He was simply irked that his ploy to calm down the older teacher had no effect.

Without waiting for him to reply, Hathaway turned and walked out of the teacher’s office, her cane making chilling thuds every time the stick made contact with the ground. The homeroom teacher of 1-A sat there, contemplative.

Well, there was no point in thinking over it too much. He’ll just lose the match and if needed, he’ll ask Recovery Girl to heal his wounds. It didn’t matter what strategy he employed. He was guaranteed to lose against the other teacher.

Her quirk was growing more proficient the older she became. And she was, after all, the teacher who taught homeroom for Eraserhead’s year and also Miruko’s.

Even though the last spar between Hathaway and Miruko was only a year after the rabbit heroine’s graduation, not once had Miruko won in a fight against her teacher, who was already of the age to retire long ago.

Holding onto her steel cane that was heavier than it looked by its wooden handle, Hathaway ‘Bizarro Witch’ Maria walked down the halls of UA, her deceptively cloudy eyes observing each and every individual student who thought they were discreet in avoiding crossing her path, while she simply continued along her way.

* * *

Presently, the trio of heroes-in-training were taking a train to where their Heroics teacher had directed them to. They were still slightly in disbelief over the fact that the three of them were chosen.

After seeking clarification from their homeroom teacher, Midoriya apparently only gave out three internship offers a year only to first years. If they were chosen, it meant that he had a way to give them an edge for the rest of the year.

Mirio, Tamaki and Nejire stepped out of the train, luggages of clothes in hand for the week of internship. There was a date and address attached to the documents they were given, which led to a residential area in Musutafu.

“Does Midoriya-sensei expect us to patrol the residential area? Not that I mind, since it’s bound to be a different experience than patrolling in the city, but it’s a bit surprising.” Mirio pondered aloud.

“I’d prefer that, since it’s probably less eventful in this neighborhood…” Tamaki mumbled just loud enough to be heard by his friends.

Nejire was just curiously looking around for any indication of Izuku’s eccentricness on any of the apartments. No such luck, as the address brought them to an ordinary apartment room no different from the others. From the outside, at least.

Mirio double-checked the address to make sure. He looked up at the unassuming wooden door in front of him and exchanged glances with his friends. “Maybe this way no one would assume a Pro-Hero lives here?”

He raised his fist and was about to knock on the door when it opened without warning, slightly startling the three.

“Welcome, Togata, Amajiki, Hado.” Izuku greeted warmly with his hair untied and reaching his shoulders. Nekoko was also there beside him, waving his small paws at them. “Please enter.”

They did so, taking off their shoes and inspecting the interior. It was surprisingly plain but cozy.

“This is actually where I used to live. Now my mom lives here, but she’s away buying groceries.” He clarified, motioning at them to follow him. “I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.”

His former room had been refurbished to have bunk beds and a more simplistic look. There was also a bed in the guest bedroom. Since he wanted to split them by gender, Mirio and Tamaki occupied the bedroom with the bunk beds and Nejire occupied the guest bedroom.

She had asked Izuku where he was sleeping and all he did was smile and wave the question off, telling her not to worry.

“This place doesn’t seem very well-guarded against villains, sensei. With how popular you are, isn’t your mom being put at risk living here?” Mirio asked him genuinely.

Izuku replied with a smile, “This place is more secure than you think. You just can’t see it easily.”

He requested of them to put on their costumes as they were going patrolling in the city.

“The city? Isn’t it already like the safest city in all of Japan because it contains the highest concentration of heroes? Also, are we taking the train?” Nejire questioned him many times.

“Yes, the city. While you’re not wrong in assuming that Musutafu is one of the safest places in Japan, it is because of that why villains in Tartarus normally come from the safer cities. They were not only discreet enough to be able to hide there, they’re also incredibly dangerous because of their reasons for staying in these cities that are risky for them to hide in.” Izuku calmly answered each and every question. “As for transportation…”

“We’re not taking the train, nya! We’re taking something much cooler!” Nekoko butted into the conversation, leaving the trio in thought over what could be a ‘cooler’ mode of transportation into the city.

It wasn’t like Midoriya-sensei owned a private jet or something in this ordinary neighborhood.

Izuku put on his helmet and exited the apartment followed by his three interns and companion. “Hopefully you’ve had a heavy lunch beforehand, since we’re only having dinner back home after our short patrol.”

He led them opposite the nearest train station and instead arrived at a rather empty park. Since the Sun was currently setting, there wasn’t anyone around to witness the ensuing events.

Izuku checked in the built-in watch on his equipment and stared at it for a few moments. “She should be here in three, two, and~... one.”

A heavy gust of wind hit their bodies, and the three students stumbled back slightly, alarmed and scanning what was in front of them, only to see nothing. The sudden arrival of the wind was as if something massive fell in front of them, minus the loud sound of impact when landing on the ground.

Tamaki glanced downwards and saw a very noticeable depression on the park’s ground. Four depressions, actually. Then his eyes caught the outline, traced it, and his pupils promptly constricted in fear.

“Luna,” Izuku called out to it, voice warm. “Very good timing.”

Then it phased into visibility.

Black scales and fur, along with a barely noticeable feline grace to its posture. Wing edges as sharp as the sharpest blades gave off a dangerous sheen under light of the setting Sun. Its tail contained several serrated and detachable spikes just waiting to be flung out from their roots.

Its eyes were bone-chillingly red.

_ Moon Swift Wyvern: Lucent Nargacuga. _

It was still juvenile judging by its size, but it was gigantic to them all the same.

“Our ride’s here, nya! Let’s go!” Nekoko hopped onto Luna’s back followed by Izuku who did the same.

“Come on, you three! She’s more than strong enough to fly us to the city.” He patted the Nargacuga’s furry back.

Tamaki was doing breathing exercises whilst the other two still had their mouths gaping in shock.

“Close your mouths or you might catch flies in them!”

* * *

“I… do not… want to experience that… again.” Tamaki stepped down onto solid ground with legs like jelly. Mirio shared his pain, legs wobbly and about to give out at any second.

Nejire however…

“That… was… awesome!” She jumped off the Nargacuga perfectly fine with glee shared by Nekoko. “We need to do this more often.”

“Flying is just pawsome, isn’t it?! But some people don’t think so and I think they just don’t know how to have fun!” In his acorn armor, Nekoko happily went on about the joys of riding a flying monster.

“Well, you’re in luck. We’ll be flying to the city and fro everyday for the rest of internship duration.” Izuku told the group, ignoring the two male students’ growing despair. “Anyway, let’s get down from here.”

Luna had landed on top of an apartment complex that had roof access, allowing them to walk down to ground level and start patrolling.

“She’ll be somewhere out of sight above us, or more often than not above me, since she’s quite attached to me,” said Izuku reassuringly.

While they drew some stares from passer-bys, the patrol began without a hitch. Sort of. They had even passed by another Pro-Hero who had brought his single intern out to patrol his usual route.

The Pro was oddly jittery when the two groups met and he seemed to avoid making eye-contact with Midoriya. How strange.

Gazing up at the darkening skies, Izuku thought about something. “ … Let’s split up, and reconvene here in an hour.”

The trio was surprised at that. Splitting up? Wasn’t that dangerous?

“Togata will be with me, and Hado and Amajiki will be with Nekoko. If any of you encounter a situation where using your quirk will save your life or the lives of others around you, I give you permission to use your quirk.” Izuku said to them straightforwardly and seriously before shaking his head slightly. “But I suppose you shouldn’t worry too much. If there actually is going to be a villain, Koko should be strong enough to deal with them alone.”

The palico puffed his chest out with pride, pulling up the mallet on his back nearly his size. The interns didn’t argue and so their group split up.

With Izuku and Mirio, it was like a leisure walk. Well, most patrols in Musutafu were like that. If you were an incompetent hero, that was. The young teacher simply trusted his instincts. Mirio was more tense, and appeared hesitant on something.

“Is there something you want to ask me, Togata?” Izuku turned to face the blonde student.

“Well…” He scratched the back of his head for a second. “I don’t want to come off as rude, but how will the patrols bring out our potential? Of course, if you have something else saved for us later in our internships, then that’s completely understandable. I just wanted to ask.”

Izuku hummed for a moment before nodding. “I do actually have something else planned during the last two days of the internship, but since one of the purposes of these internships are to give students a taste of hero work, I started off with patrols.”

Mirio nodded in understanding, but he had another question. “Then may I ask why we split up? Is there a reason you chose me to accompany you?”

“Yes there is, actually, but for I’ll be doing the same for the next two days for Hado and Amajiki. Don’t worry, I’m not singling you out for whatever reason.” Izuku clarified to him, calming his nerves. “Speaking of the reason, Lemillion, may I know the reason why you want to be a hero?”

His teacher’s demeanor changed all of a sudden, as if Midoriya turned into a fully fledged Pro-Hero right in front of him.

It was kind of inspiring, in Mirio’s honest opinion.

* * *

With the other group, Tamaki and Nejire followed behind a cheerful palico as Nekoko trotted step by step along the path. They had to stop the bystanders that couldn’t resist trying to pet this bipedal cat and inform them that they were interns trying to do their jobs.

“Why did Midoriya-sensei decide to split us up?” Sighed Tamaki as he covered as much of his face as he could under his hood.

“Maybe it’s because he wants to talk to Mirio alone and do the same for us later!” Nejire guessed, which seemed quite obvious after thinking over it for a while.

“I’m not sure what we can learn following Nekoko… but at the same time I hope the rest of the patrol is peaceful…” He commented.

Nekoko’s ears and nose twitched at something, and the palico instantly became alert. The two interns stared at the feline as it crawled swiftly on the ground, nose sniffing at something in the air like a dog.

He led Tamaki and Nejire to…

A takoyaki stand.

“Octopus balls!” Nekoko exclaimed. The two students watched in befuddlement as he pulled out a wad of cash from under his armor.

Then his face scrunched up and the palico was faced with a dilemma. “I can have mama Midori’s cooking after the patrol… but octopus balls!”

Nekoko came to a decision. “Just one! No, two! No, four! Only four octopus balls! Then dinner.”

He dashed to line up in the queue, and other than a bit of surprise from the crowd, the civilians allowed the palico to line up to buy takoyaki just like that.

“Tamaki! It looks like we have to wait for Nekoko to buy his food.” Nejire pointed out.

“Yes, I can see that.”

Tamaki had an urge to sigh again, when he caught something in his hearing.

_ “Flesh…” _

The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he turned around, trying to find the source of that voice. His eyes zeroed in on what looked to be a couple. One of them was clearly a woman, and the other had their head hidden under a black hood, so he couldn’t make out the man’s face.

Tamaki  _ could  _ just stay here and wait for Nekoko to buy his food.

_ Or  _ he could walk off without a word, heart racing, following after the couple. He was only a first year intern and not at all obligated to investigate people he thought were suspicious.

Tamaki had no plan for if they actually were villains, but he couldn’t stop himself.

_ Someone could get hurt. _

Nejire stopped staring at the palico and noticed the disappearance of a certain shy friend.

Tamaki walked past many civilians, almost squeezing through them, as they were by a supermarket at night. The two suspicious individuals turned to an inconspicuous alley, and he came to realize the utter lack of people around the area.

Looking into the dark path leading into the shadows, his breathing quickened.

_ I-I need to go. This was a bad idea- _

“Tamaki! Why did you run off like that?”

He froze. So did the couple.

Nejire caught up to him and lightly smacked his shoulder. “You shouldn’t run off like that! What if you find yourself in trouble? Don’t you remember what Midoriya-sensei said? Villains in this city are the most dange-oomph!”

Tamaki’s hand flew to her mouth and covered it, stopping her from speaking any more. But the damage had already been done.

The couple turned.

The man, who he initially thought was the actual threat, could barely be seen under their hood, his eyes being covered. Tamaki could at least confirm that the man’s scraggly hair was brown.

The woman could be described as beautiful if not for the warning bells that rang in his head the moment his eyes landed on her. Long black hair with purple highlights. Eyes a shade of green so light that it was almost yellow.

“You must be hero students, right? I feel quite lucky to be able to talk to two at once.” She said with a smile. “Is there a problem.”

Tamaki’s mouth was dry. “I… j-just misheard something. S-sorry for bothering you.”

He backed off slightly, gripping onto the arm of a clueless Nejire.

The smile never disappeared from her face. “Oh?  **May I know** what you might have heard? My boyfriend here is known to mumble a lot to himself. I hope he didn’t say anything strange.”

“It was ‘flesh’.” Tamaki blurted out. Nejire was surprised at the abrupt raising of his voice.

He paled and turned around, only to see that both of them had unknowingly stepped deeper into the alley.

Her eyes met Nejire’s and they seemed to pulse with a dim light, almost like their sensei’s eyes.

Before the darkness enveloped Nejire’s vision, the woman seemed to decide against her current course of action and broke eye contact.

She stopped smiling and said one word that sent chills down both their spines.

_ “Moonfish.” _

A tide of razor sharp teeth spilled from the man’s mouth and shot straight towards the interns.

Nejire’s reflexes were slightly faster, sending a controlled blast of energy at Tamaki’s center, the shockwave pushing both of them in opposite directions and out of the stream of endlessly growing teeth.

The woman turned and walked deeper into the darkness, leaving the two students with her supposed ‘boyfriend’.

“Kill them.”

* * *

Nekoko’s ear perked up and he almost dropped the plate of takoyaki in his hands. “Nya? Where are the other two?”

* * *

“Making a costume out of your hair? That’s probably the best course of action for you.” Izuku rubbed his chin in thought.

Mirio nodded energetically. “They said they would start working on it after the internships, so I’ll probably be nearly bald for the rest of the year to collect enough hair to make the entire thing.”

“So you’re going with your current design?” Asked Izuku, glancing at the ‘1000000’ on his student’s chest.

“Of course! After all, I’m going to save a million people in the future as Lemillion!” Mirio smacked his chest in pride.

“That’s good to hear-” He paused. Izuku turned his head towards the direction of his other two interns, eyes serious.

“Sensei?”

“Let’s go.” His voice held a certain authority. He changed course out of the blue and went the opposite direction.

“What’s wrong, sensei? It hasn’t been an hour yet.” His student asked, concerned. His eyes turned to Mirio by his side, never stopping his strides.

“There’s trouble.”

* * *

The concrete ground beneath them was in shambles. So were the walls. And the same could be said about the two downed students.

Tamaki was on his last legs, using a giant oyster shell to barely ward off the assaulting teeth coming from the man a distance away from them. Nejire had tried to let out a shockwave at the second wave, but the blast didn’t take out all of the teeth and some stabbed into her shin and shoulder.

She was lucky it wasn’t hooked.

Tamaki could only be forced into the defensive trying to protect both their lives.

_ The teeth can only go in one direction, so maybe… no! I just need to wait. The cat… sensei will save us. He definitely will. _

The onslaught stopped suddenly and Tamaki took the opportunity to get a breather. He looked over his marine shield and…

Any words of strategy he was about to say died in his throat as he witnessed a literal wall of teeth being spewed from Moonfish’s mouth. Each individual tooth twisted and curved as if mocking Tamaki’s previous observation that they could only go in one direction.

The sight sent a message to his mind:  _ I could have killed you two whenever I wanted. _

Yet Moonfish wanted to play with his food, so while the next wave razed the floor and walls, it eventually concentrated on Tamaki’s shield. There had yet to be contact, but he had already seen how terrible it could go for him and Nejire.

“Help.” He could only croak softly.

The ground shook lightly, and  _ something  _ popped out from beneath the concrete right between the interns and the teeth.

Nekoko had burrowed  _ into  _ concrete, went deep enough to burrow into soft soil to travel to them, then promptly burrowed  _ out  _ of concrete without effort with his big mallet in hand.

“Reow!” The palico swung the mallet that looked like a toy into the rush of countless razor sharp teeth.

And it  _ smashed through _ them, stopping their momentum and surprising the villain behind.

Nekoko’s visage appeared to darken as a black fog overtook his features with only glowing red eyes to be seen. “How dare you?!”

He swiftly hopped up onto the teeth and reached the middle before swinging the hammer down again, the shockwave compromising the structure of the villain’s attack.

Moonfish detached his current set of teeth to try and grow a new set, but was stopped by a knee digging into his slouched back, his face smashing into the ground from Izuku landing on him.

Mirio came into the alley running. “Are you guys alright?!”

Looking at the injured Nejire moaning in pain on the ground and seeing Tamaki collapse onto the ground from exhaustion, Izuku’s expression darkened.

He looked at Moonfish who was lying on the ground motionlessly. Then he spoke, “I know you’re not actually unconscious.”

A single tooth shot towards his face and Izuku tilted his head to dodge it before bringing up his left hand to snap it off with his fingers. He dropped to one knee and grasped Moonfish’s hood and the hair under it and smashed the villain’s face onto the ground, making sure he was finally out cold this time.

He wordlessly got up and approached his three interns. His hand reached his belt to unclasp one of the lidded bamboo cups attached to his person.

It was a healing potion.

Izuku kneeled down by Nejire with his other two concerned students.

“Midoriya-sensei, how long until an ambulance gets here? There might be an infection…” Mirio said apprehensively.

The young teacher detached the lid of the cup and slowly poured the potion over the wounds on your leg and shoulder.

“Ow it hurts, it hurts…” Nejire’s voice shook, her eyes teary.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be over in a few seconds. We’re all here for you,” Izuku said softly.

Healing potions and vigorwasp nectar were truly miracle items. He had given a steady supply of them to Recovery Girl if the old Pro wanted to use them. The wounds closed quickly in no more than ten seconds.

The police cars had arrived at this time and Izuku carefully helped Nejire up to her feet. “Togata, help your friend up, will you?”

Mirio did so immediately, going under one of Tamaki’s arms and hoisting both of them up to their feet.

“I apologize to the three of you. You shouldn’t have had to experience something like that so early in your life.” Izuku said to them somewhat bitterly.

“Koko apawlogizes too… I was too distracted by food, nya.” The palico’s ears were drooped in shame.

“It’s okay, sensei…” Izuku turned to Nejire, who was the one who spoke. “You said before that hero work is unpredictable like that, so you were preparing us for the worst… so it’s nobody’s fault but the villains!”

Looking at the familiar albeit weak smile on her face, he too found a soft smile on his face and snorted lightly. He patted her head subconsciously. “Of course. Anyway, I’ll take responsibility for the events that unfolded tonight. All you three need to do is be patient. Don’t worry about being late for dinner. Our ride’s right above us.”

Unbeknownst to them, their voices were carried by an unnatural flow of wind. Their words traveled through the alley and deep into a dark and damp room through an open window.

The woman from before sat on a worn couch, listening in to the conversation brought in by another person’s quirk.

Someone she had arranged to meet here beforehand. She glanced at the unit of a man inside the room with her.

He was almost the size of Endeavor and wore a long and thin white coat over his red shirt along with long black trousers. Settled on his head of dark hair was a black top hat that almost covered his sharp and nearly avian eyes. His forearms were wrapped in what appeared to be silver bracers.

The two villains weren’t exactly enemies, but they were far from allies. They could only hear the conversation but not see Izuku’s face, so they were left guessing his identity.

Midoriya was by all accounts a wildcard.

Even when the large man turned to look at the woman, his eyes locked on her eyebrows. “It seems  _ we  _ have a problem.”

“We or just you? UA getting a new teacher matters very little to me.” She inquired with growing amusement.

Indeed it mattered to him. A competent and powerful Pro-Hero had sprung out of nowhere and nobody had information. There were suddenly wind currents blowing inside the room, and the woman’s hair flowed with it.

“I’m in no mood to converse right now. Leave.” He demanded of her.

She complied, standing up with a cold smile. “Then I’ll leave it to you…”

Pulling open the closest door to her which somehow led somewhere else, she uttered a name no one in Japan didn’t know of.

**_“Mad King.”_ **

The two of Musutafu’s most dangerous villains minus the one hidden in Kamino were then left to their own devices, with the Mad King standing on the same spot unmoving, hands crossed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The villains are mostly just stepping stones for the Big Three and they ensure that their first year and second year will be quite eventful. Initially I didn't plan for there to be a main villain for the first year, but then I got inspired and just had to add one in for Izuku to punch his face in. They will play very little in canon events.
> 
> Help with visualization:  
> Lucent Nargacuga: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Lucent_Nargacuga


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